By Your Side
by chrisfaithalin
Summary: Complete: When Kara finds out about a life altering change, she puts Lee to the test to see if he will stay By Her Side. Together they will journey a difficult road, learning more about each other each day. KaraLee although AU. After 2.13ish
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Frak Frak Frak Frak Frak Frak Frak," Kara muttered as she walked through the locker room, banging on each locker door as she passed. Luckily, everybody seemed to be either on duty or out playing some cards. She didn't really want to explain to anybody the reason behind her foul mood. She continued on her rampage before collapsing on her bunk.

What was she going to do?

She contemplated this answer as she brought her knees up to her chest. Her life was so frakked. Why did she always have to be such a screw up? She felt tears prick at her eyes which only pissed her off more, so she punched the wall of her bunk.

"Kara?"

Frak, her mind screamed as she looked up to see Lee standing in front of her in only a towel, obviously coming straight from the shower.

"I heard you banging the lockers. What's wrong?" Lee asked softly, his hauntingly blue eyes were filled with concern.

Of course he has to be all concerned and nice when I don't deserve it.

"Kara?" Lee asked again, waiting for an answer.

"None of your frakking business," Kara yelled as she stormed out of the now suffocating room, leaving Lee's pleading voice behind her.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Ok, so that didn't make me feel any better, Kara thought to herself as she collapsed against the wall of the gym after going at the punching bag. That would be the first. Usually when punching something, you get a lot of that pent up energy and anger out. However, it didn't seem to work this time. If anything it made her feel worse. Not only was she still emotionally charged, but her body was aching and sweaty.

Damnit, she knew what she had to do, and she hated the thought.

Kara stood up from where she was and made her way to the shower where she could at least relieve her aching body and wash the sweat away. The shower did calm her some which helped her resolve to follow through on something she did not want to do.

It was late evening by now and most of the passageways were empty since it was between shifts. People were either on shift in CIC or in their bunks for the night. However, she knew one person that would be doing neither. She tentatively knocked on the hatch and waited for a response. Once again, Kara cursed herself, when had she ever been tentative?

"Come in."

Kara inwardly smiled at how reliable the stick up Lee's ass was, forcing him to continue with his paperwork well into the evening.

Lee glanced up briefly from his work in front of him before resuming writing something down. "How can I help you Lt. Thrace," Lee questioned politely, completely in CAG mode.

Oh, I can play at this game, Kara told herself. Kara immediately stood at attention saluting Lee. "Lt. Thrace reporting to check up on the stick up Captain Adama's ass. I wanted to make sure it was performing its duty up to par."

Lee looked up to Kara at attention and his resolve broke down and he threw the pen down and broke out into laughter. He rubbed his eyes that had been staring at the same form for the last hour. "At ease Starbuck. I think the stick is fully functional, or I would not be sitting in this office right now."

Kara cleared her throat nervously before speaking, "can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Umm, we are alone here, and I don't really want to travel to find a place where you can apologize to me. You don't even need to apologize for that matter.

Kara laughed, "it's about something more important that me apologizing for one of our little spats. Also, I really don't want to talk to you in this room because this is not a lieutenant to captain problem, or even a Starbuck to Apollo problem. I really need to talk to Lee.

Lee sobered up and for a few moments he studied Kara, who was purposefully looking at everything in the room but him. "Ok, we will go find somewhere else."

Lee got up from behind his desk and went and opened the hatch for Kara to walk through. Kara gave Lee a small smile of thank you and they both walked off in search of a quiet place to talk. By now a lot of people were asleep; however, there were a few stragglers in the rec room and the locker room.

"Ok, Kara I don't know if this is going to happen. Just whatever you need to tell me you can do in my office. I promise I won't I won't act like Captain Adama."

Kara shook her head. "I have one more place."

Kara grabbed Lee's hand and led him to the flight deck which was completely deserted at the moment.

"Wait shouldn't there be people on duty in here? What if something happens on CAP?" Lee couldn't stop the CAG in him from coming out at the moment.

"Remember that part about you being Lee and not CAG?"

Lee sighed, "I know, but this is a big violations and risk."

Kara shook her head as she led him to a corner of the flight deck. "No, it's not, if something does happen on CAP, which rarely does, then the red lights will start buzzing and they will be out here in about one minute. Trust me; I have seen it done before. There is nothing to worry about."

Lee gave in, "Fine, I will drop it."

"Thank you," Kara said as she plopped on the ground in small nook near one of the hanger entrances.

Lee took a seat next to her against the wall. He looked around him. Even if there were people on the flight deck, it would hardly matter considering they were practically in a little hole in the wall that nobody could really see or hear anything from.

"I have never noticed this place before," Lee spoke, impressed.

"I know, barely anybody does, and that is why I like to come here a lot. I can just sit and watch people working on the vipers and see them go off to be launched, but not have to be a part of it. It's a nice place to think."

"I would imagine. So, what do you is it that you need to tell me that is so important that you had us walking all over the ship just to find a quiet place to talk.

Kara forced herself to look at Lee's eyes and for a moment she got lost in their depths. He looked so content at the moment, she didn't want to ruin it, but he had to be the first to know, well besides Doc Cottle, of course.

"Lee, I'm pregnant."

Lee could only stare at Kara with his mouth wide open. For a moment, he felt that his world was crashing down on him. For the first time in a while he felt like him and Kara had been on a firm standing ground and he had hopes that maybe they would both be in the same place to finally start something between them. However, that seemed like it wasn't going to happen. He wanted to yell at her, let his heart break, do something but first he would have to ask the question. "Who?"

Kara smiled sadly at him and just spoke one word, "Anders."

"Are you sure, because there was that…you know…couple months ago…we don't know what happened."

Lee was referring to the night about a couple months ago that the two of them had gotten shit faced drunk on the anniversary of Zac's death. Both had been in a bad mood all day, and everybody tried to keep their distance from those two. That night Kara came stumbling into his office giggling and hugging a couple bottles to her body. She had traded her cigars for the liquor, not really thinking of the future, but thinking of the imminent need to numb the pain. Obviously, Lee had been feeling the same way because they drank until they couldn't anymore and they woke up together on top of a blanket on the floor, both completely naked. Neither could remember exactly what happened, whether they frakked or just had the over whelming urge to strip off all of their clothes. They both assumed it was the first. They both hoped it was the latter.

Kara shook her head slowly as she spoke softly, "I'm sure. From how long I am along, it happened a couple weeks before you and I…well did whatever we did."

Lee nodded, really wanting to be understanding and comforting, but he couldn't trust himself with words at the moment. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as his hands supported his hands. There were so many thoughts and emotions that were running through his head right now. Anger was probably the most prominent feeling right now. He just had the all consuming thought of punching Kara.

"You know you can be angry if you want. I am expecting it. Call me a whore or tramp. Or better yet throw something. That should help some," Kara spoke lightly, although her suggestions were serious.

Lee glanced up and surprisingly raised his fist and put all his strength behind punching the steel wall next to him. The sound reverberated through the flight deck and he saw Kara jump at the sound.

"I'm sorry," Lee immediately softened.

"No, I should be thanking you that you didn't aim that punch at me," Kara joked lightly, knowing that she did deserve to be punched.

Lee shook his head, smiling sadly. "You know I would never punch a pregnant woman. Well, I don't really punch women for that matter."

Kara couldn't stop herself from snorting at his words. "Aren't you such a gentleman?"

Lee nodded smugly.

"That hasn't stopped you from throwing a few blows at me before."

"Well, I don't know if I would really consider you a woman. You are more just a being, Starbuck."

They both laughed at his words that in a way had their own ring of truth in them. The chuckles died down, and they both were faced with the serious situation that was before them.

"How did this happen?" Lee questioned more to himself than to Kara.

"Well, you see Lee, when a man and woman have sex, sometimes…"

Lee just shook his head, not even giving her a smile for that lame ass joke. "No, I mean how did it get this way between the two of us. Every time the two of us feel like we are doing good, something screws with us."

"I know exactly what you mean. That is why I didn't even want to tell you, I knew this could mess us up again. Is it?"

"I don't know," Lee sighed, truly not knowing. "I just don't know how much more of this I can take."

Kara's eyes filled with tears. She didn't know if she could live her life without Lee. He was one of the only constant things in her life. Even their ups and downs were predictable now.

"Talk to me about something else. Like what are you going to do?" Lee asked, really not wanting to think about his place in all of this.

Kara made a quick swipe at her eyes, trying to shake some of the feelings that were running through her. "I don't know yet. I just found out this morning and you are the first person to find out."

Lee let the corners of his mouth slide up as he heard that. That was something after all. He gave her an encouraging nod to continue as he placed his hand on her knee, rubbing small comforting circles with his thumb.

"Almost every fiber of my being is screaming that I should give up this baby to somebody. Because who are we kidding? Me? A mother? Hell no! I would be the shittiest mother in the world. But, there is some small part of me, in the very core of heart that wants to keep him or her. This may be one of the only times I can conceive and I don't want to give up that opportunity," Kara confessed.

"What? Why wouldn't you be able to have a baby?" Lee questioned, very confused.

Kara sighed, forgetting she hadn't told Lee about The Farm. "When I was on Caprica I was injured and picked up by Cylons and put into this hospital. Or that was what Simon told me. He told me that Anders had dropped me off and that they had removed a piece of shrapnel from me. Well, I became suspicious when I noticed a new scar on my stomach. One way or the other I fought my way out of their after finding out they were Cylons. Also, the Cylons seemed to be using humans for some sort of harvesting experiment. I didn't know exactly what was going on. I ended up killing them. I came back and talked to Doc Cottle and he said it would be unlikely for me to have a baby. It could happen, but the chances were slim."

Lee stared out in front of him, his eyes misting over. "Unbelievable," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah, well I have a scar to prove it." Kara lifted her shirt to show him that was on her stomach.

Lee instinctively reached out and touched the pink raised flesh that was obviously a fresh scar to where her surgery had been. He traced the outline of the scar and Kara shivered under his touch. She felt the warmth of Lee as he covered the scar completely with his hand, removing it from her sight. She felt his heat course through her body as she stared into his dazzling eyes. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Lee silently comforting Kara with his touch. After a few minutes Lee moved his hand up and pulled the bottom of her tank top down, covering her skin.

"Thank the Gods nothing happened to you," Lee whispered softly. "And we now know you are able to have children."

"Yeah, although, I would have been happy not finding this one out for a few years later. Preferably when the world had not just ended and I had a husband," Kara admitted, afraid that Lee would poke fun of her talking about a husband.

"What are you going to do about Anders?" Lee asked the million dollar question.

"I have to move on," Kara choked. "There is no way we are going back there for a few straggling survivors. I can't go back there by myself, so I'm stuck. I had a connection with him, but I need to move on with my life. I wish that weren't the case, but there is nothing to do. If I decide to keep the baby, I can do this by myself." Her eyes looked at Lee, straight in the eyes, trying to exude confidence, however her eyes were filling with tears.

Lee shook his head. "You won't do this alone. Whatever you decide, I won't leave your side."

Kara's eyes widened in shock, whatever she was expecting, that hadn't been it. "Really?" she couldn't keep the tremble from her voice and the tear that fell down her cheek.

He reached out and cupped her face, using his thumb to wipe the tear from her cheek. Lee looked Kara straight in her eyes and simply state, "really."

That was the breaking for Kara, and she broke down in sobs. Lee immediately jumped in and pulled Kara to him, enveloping her in his arms. She cried into his shoulder, and Lee did nothing but speak encouraging words in her ear, reassuring her that he would stand by her, never leaving her side.

A/N WHEEEE! Ok, this is my first Battlestar Galactica story, and I know it's rough around the edges, but I am working on it. Um, this was inspired by the fact that I have just recently within the last week gotten into BSG fanfic. Before I have been purely a HP and a little 24 person. That is all I read and all I have written. BTW- Tony/Michelle or Harry/Hermione fans, I have like a handful of other good stories for them. Anywho, I know that other people have done similar ideas to the Kara pregnant or parent story, but I thought I would try my own variation. Believe me there are more chapters and I already have the ending, woot woot. So please leave a note telling me yay or nay and if it is a nay please be constructive. I can take it, I just hate flames. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kara did not know what it was about the Adama men, but she didn't know how to get rid of this feeling of needing to be honest with them.

:knock knock:

Kara knew that Commander needed to know, for more reasons than she could count. The most logical was that this would probably affect her capabilities as a Viper pilot, or it could be that he was the father of the man who was going to help her through this. But honestly, she just needed to tell him because he was the closest thing to a father or a parent figure/ Not to mention she could really use the advice from him.

"Come in," Adama called out from his quarters.

She hesitantly opened the hatch and stepped in taking notice of Adama working on his model ships. Kara smiled at the look of utter concentration Adama had on his face, letting the world of cylons and survival slip away for the little time he worked on his models.

Adama looked up and gave a warm smile, speaking in his soft raspy voice, "nice to see you Kara. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something very serious."

Adama nodded, motioning to two comfy chairs for them to sit in. "Can I get you anything to drink?" Adama asked, getting himself a small glass of water.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," Kara answered politely.

"Well, this must be serious, you are being awfully quiet this evening," Adama commented and he took his glass and sat down on the chair facing Kara.

"I'm just going to give it to you straight," Kara said after a moments of silence.

Adama smiled. "I appreciate that."

"I'm pregnant."

"I see," Adama stared at the glass in his hand. Adama contemplated all the different repercussions of this before moving on, "I am assuming this is with that man from Caprica, Anders?"

Kara gave him a small sad smile, "yeah."

Adama nodded again, this time looking at Kara straight in the eye, trying to figure her out.

"Does Lee know about this?"

"Yeah, he was the first I told."

"How did he take it?" Adama asked, curious.

"Well, he punched a wall," Kara stated simply.

Adama winced as he imagined his sons frustration. It was obvious to everybody the boy had feelings for Kara.

Kara went on to explain the full explanation a little more, "after the initial shock, he was a lot more supportive. He said he would stick this out with me, whatever I chose to do."

"That doesn't surprise me. He really cares about you," Adama pointed out.

Kara sighed, "I know, that is why I felt like I had to tell him first. I was so nervous about telling him; I really don't want to lose him as a friend. But, it looks like whatever I decide, he will be there."

"He is a person about doing what is right. He knows that you will need him during this time. Don't abuse that fact," Adama added lightly, his eyes twinkling.

"No worries about that, on my honor," Kara joked back

There were another couple minutes of silence as Adama soaked in all of this information. Kara was always a mystery in some ways and she always kept him on her toes. "What are your plans?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if I want to keep the baby," Kara looked sad as she stared at her hands, waiting to be judged.

Adama studied Kara for a few minutes, really contemplating her character. He finally broke the silence with his confident, throaty voice, "you are going to keep the baby."

Kara's eyes grew wide as she listened to Adama. "What?"

"You heard me. You are going to have this baby and Lee is going to be it's father, maybe not by blood, but that isn't all that matters when being a parent."

"How can you be so sure?" Kara wondered.

"I know you had a difficult childhood, and you want to have the opportunity to give this child something you never had, a true family. And well, Lee will stay true to his word. He wouldn't want to be anywhere but by your side, and if that is with this baby, then that will be where he is."

"But, this isn't the best time to have a baby."

Adama smiled, "the human race has been decimated and we are left with a staggeringly low number of people that have survived. I think that we need babies right now."

"But, you can't afford to lose one of your viper pilots," Kara countered.

"We will manage. I will only be losing you for seven to nine months and then you will be back at work."

"Ok, but who is supposed to be watching this baby while I am on duty?"

Adama shook his head, laughing "you are over thinking. But, to indulge you, Lee can help pick up some slack, and anytime you are on duty at the same time, there is a ship full of people that would love to baby sit. Trust me, this will do wonders for morale. Just think, we have myself, Cally, Chief, Dee, Helo, and I bet even you could convince Billy and the President to look after it for a little while. Everybody loves babies."

Kara could tell that there was no logical reason to not have this baby. Adama really knew what he was talking about. Then Kara had to come completely clean and voice her innermost fear. She looked at Adama and truthfully asked, "but, could I really be a mother?"

Adama set down his glass and leaned forward, grabbing Kara's hands and holding them in his own. "You will make a wonderful mother. I know many people are going to question it, or even make fun of the thought of you having a baby. But, I have known you for a long time, and people who have not had a good home as a child, will often make great parents because they want to give them something they didn't have. You want to give that to this child, don't you?"

Kara nodded, tears in her eyes. "I want to love it with all my heart and raise it with all of that love."

"See, you already have something your parents didn't have. And I am going to impart something to you that I never told anybody. A long time ago, when Zac broke the news of his engagement to me he was so giddy. He told me how much he loved you and how he really saw him having a future with you, even having a family. When he told me this, I couldn't keep the look of disbelief as I questioned about Starbuck the viper pilot being a mother. He assured me, saying that you would be the greatest mother in the world. He continued by saying that there is a whole new person that nobody else sees because she is hiding behind the name Starbuck. I kept that in mind and as I have gotten to know you better I have to say he was right, Kara."

Kara was now crying. Why do the Adama men have this affect on her. After clearing her throat a little and wiping her eyes, Kara asked tentatively, "When I have this baby, will you be it's grandpa? You are more of a father than I have ever known and I really want my baby to have a grandfather."

Adama gave Kara a loving smile. "Of course, nothing would honor me more. Not to mention it looks like my son will be helping with him or her. Which brings me to the next issue. The only thing we need to work out is where you are going to live."

A thoughtful look dawned across her face as the issue came to light. It never even ran across her mind that she wouldn't be able to raise a baby in the bunk room with the other pilots.

As if reading her mind, "yeah you are going to need a place to raise the kid. I think the easiest and most logical solution is the guest quarters. That is where we would house guests that would board Galactica. However, lately we have been using them as storage rooms, but I think that can be changed. We can shuffle some things around."

Kara smiled at the idea, "that sounds really nice."

"It will work out well, there are two rooms, which would make it possible for Lee to live with you to help raise the child. Also, there is a mini kitchen and a living room. It would be a cozy, little place to raise a family. However, if more of my workers decide to follow in your footsteps, I don't know what I am going to do. Good thing you were the first," Adama joked.

Kara reassured, "you'll find a way when you have to cross that bridge, but for now this will work."

oooooooooooooooooo

Kara left the commanders quarter's with a strange sense of peace as she went off in search of Lee. Now, that she had a path to follow, she felt like this whole situation was possible to survive, if not something good. She walked to Lee's office and knocked on the hatch to find that it was empty. That was weird, it was early evening so he should be in his office working. However, that was not the case.

Kara kept on walking, checking the bunks and then the rec room. Not finding him, she then decided to check the flight deck, and sure enough he was on one of the metal walk ways above the flight deck, leaning on the rail as he observed the handful of people still at work. Kara went upstairs and came to stand next to him. Neither said anything at first, both just basking in the comfortable silence as they watched the people below.

"I talked to your dad," Kara stated simply, not beating around the bush.

"You did? And what did he say?" Lee asked, still looking ahead.

"He thinks I am going to keep this baby," Kara watched Lee to see his reaction.

This time Lee looked at her in curiosity. "And what do you think?"

"I think I really want to keep this baby, and even if I think there are a millions of reasons for me to not have this baby, your dad has faith in meand for some reason, that makes me feel at peace with becoming a mother."

"I have faith in you too," Lee solemnly agreed. "You will be a great mother if you want."

Kara's heart leaped a little, knowing that Lee had confidence in herself made her feel even better. However, she continued to fidget nervously.

"Is there something else you need to tell me?" Lee questioned. "Because, you really shouldn't be worried. I don't think you could tell me anything bigger than you being pregnant."

"Well, your father brought up the idea of moving me into the guest quarters, so I can raise the baby, and well, he said there was enough room for you to move in as well. And I just wanted to ask, would you move in with me and be the babies father? I know it is a lot to ask and you will need some time to think about it. If you don't want to, I completely understand. I just want the baby to have two parents." By the end of the speech, Kara was speaking as quickly as possible, to get it all out before she lost her nerve. She wasn't even looking at Lee, or she wouldn't have even be nervous, because he was beaming with happiness.

Lee put his fingers under Kara's chin, tilting it upward so she could see his dazzling smile. "Nothing would make me happier than to move in and be this babies father."

Kara's face lit up with excitement, "really?"

"I don't want to leave you and I will raise the baby as if it were my own."

Kara's heart started to beat rapidly, as she felt the honesty of Lee's words. She couldn't contain her happiness of knowing that she wouldn't be alone. She ran into Lee's arms and hugged him tightly, muttering thank you into his chest as he smiled into her hair. Both knew that this was the beginning of something wonderful

A/N-I have to say this has to be a record. I have made a new resolution to start writing half and hour a day, and mostly that energy has been focused on this story. Hopefully that will continue. I can not thank you guys enough for the fantastic reviews I have gotten. Even people that had constructive criticism, I appreciate it. I love how long the reviews are. With my HP stories I get one worded reviews like "great" "awesome". It means so much more to know exactly what I am doing right and what I'm not. So thank you so much. Anyways, I should be continuing on this story in the near future because I am going out tomorrow and buying season 1 and 2 tomorrow. WOOHOO! I will probably be in a complete Galactica mood. Anywho, thanks again and please review. I know this chapter is not as good as the first, but it is a lot of explaining I had to get out the way


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where do you want this box?" Lee asked Kara.

Kara shrugged, not really caring. "I guess you can just drop that in my room."

Lee nodded as he took the box over to her room and set it on her bed. He walked back and out to see Kara spinning as she looked at her surroundings.

"This is going to be so weird," she muttered under her breath, as she sat flopped backwards on the couch.

"What? Are you talking about us living together?" Lee wondered, joining her on the couch.

Kara turned to look at him. "Not really, that doesn't seem weird to me for some reason. What I can't get over is having an actual mini-home. I mean, Galactica is my home, no question about that. But actually having an little home to go to after duty. A place where we have our own bathroom, kitchen and even bedroom. It is so different, but in a good way. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think so. It will be weird not going back to our rack to catch some sleep. It will be nice. Not to mention have you seen how big your bed is?" Lee questioned huskily, giving Kara a wink.

Kara couldn't keep the giggle from rising out of her. She wanted to clamp her mouth shut from keeping that sound coming from her.

Lee laughed at Kara's face. "You just giggled. Not laughed, guffawed, snorted, or even cackled. No the great Starbuck just let out a girly giggle."

"What can I say? It's those crazy hormones of a crazy pregnant woman," Kara begrudgingly stated, daring Lee to say anything further.

However, Lee was feeling brave today as he slowly leaned forward, with a devilish glint in his eyes. Kara leaned back uncertainly, not used to this new Lee that was coming out. She remembered vaguely seeing him like this back when Zak was alive, but she hadn't known Lee that well back then.

Lee smiled, as he leaned forward and startle to tickle Kara. Kara gave out a shriek of surprise as she collapsed backwards into the couch. She could barely breath from giggling so much. Damnit Lee, her mind kept saying over and over again. She decided the only way to stop it besides punching him was to pull him down on top of her, so that if decided to continue tickling him, she would be able to kick him in one place especially that he wouldn't appreciate. 

Lee fell onto Kara so his face was a few inches from her's. There was a few seconds where they stared silently at each other, but then he rolled to the side so he was laying down next to her. He sighed as Kara leaned into his side, placing her head on his chest. He sneaked his hand under her so he could wrap his arm around her. 

Both of them felt very content as they lay in each others arms. Lee traced lazy circles on Kara's slightly bulging stomach. 

"What do you think the baby will be?" Lee whispered softly.

"Well, I'm really hoping that it will be human, but I will take a dwarf or a gnome, as long as it isn't a Cylon or a bunny rabbit," Kara shivered at the thought. "I hate bunnies, they have those hoppy legs and twitchy little noses."

Lee chuckled lightly. "You have got to be kidding me, a cute, furry bunny rabbit scares Starbuck."

Kara slightly smacked his chest, trying to stop the teasing. "You don't understand, I had a very traumatic bunny experience when I was a child."

"What did it do, stare at you and hop a way. How very frightening," Lee feigned fear.

"No, the bunny attacked me out in my backyard. I was so scared. I ended up running away, but have been scared shitless of them since then," Kara told him seriously.

Lee shook hid head, knowing that continuing down this road could be dangerous for him. "Well, I'm glad you are shooting for having a human, but more specifically do you want a girl or boy."

Kara lay silently, listening to Lee's steady heartbeat. It was comforting to feel her head rise slightly with each slow breath. She felt shy and stupid saying it, but she just told Lee the truth, "I don't know. I have thought about it so much, but I am just so happy having this baby. But, at the moment, I am leaning towards having a little boy. I never was big fan of girly things, so I think having a boy would be more comfortable for me. I know that is stupid."

"Nah, it's not stupid at all," Lee said as he squeezed her body to his comfortingly.

"Well, have you put a thought into it?" Kara questioned, curiously.

"I haven't thought too much about it in my life, but for some reason I had always thought of having a daughter. You know daddy's little girl?" Lee smiled cheesily down at Kara.

Kara rolled her eyes, while inside she melting at how sweet it was. "If the rest of the pilots could hear you now."

"I don't think it would really matter. I think they are still reeling from the news of you being pregnant. I think the party is tonight."

Kara laughed, "oh, they may think that they have gotten rid of me, but I now will have more time to concentrate on training their sorry asses."

"You are never going to change, Kara."

"I know, not a very good thing for you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Lee assured Kara as he pulled her closer and they just laid there in comfortable silence, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You're just loving this," Kara gasped as she leaned over the toilet in their personal bathroom.

Lee grimaced down at Kara she glanced up at him. "Yeah, my idea of a good time is holding up a girls hair while she pukes and makes me late for my CAP and you late for your training session with the nuggets."

Kara moaned as she doubled over, relieving herself of her breakfast. After a few minutes of convulsing, Kara sighed and collapsed against the wall of the bathroom. Lee leaned over and got Kara a glass of water and a towel to wipe her sweaty face. Kara gave a appreciative look as she grabbed the items he was handing her.

"Thank you," she mumbled softly, her body still shaking. She took a sip of the water as she wiped down her whole face with the cool cloth.

Lee sat down next to her, studying her shivering body and pale complexion. He was just about to say something when she spoke up whimpering.

"I don't know if I can do this whole pregnancy thing."

Lee chuckled, but then quieted after seeing this was not a humorous subject. "I think it's too late for you to do anything about it. Today is just a bad morning. Sometimes you are perfectly fine," Lee pointed out.

Kara nodded. "I know, but I just hate puking."

"I don't think anybody likes throwing up."

"Yeah, but I hate it more than anything. I would rather be sick to my stomach, never getting it out of my system than throwing up. I hate the way you have no control over your body, and the shaking and sweating…" Kara trailed off, as she felt another wave of nausea overcome her and she leaned forward, emptying her stomach.

Kara leaned back, moaning, "I don't think there is anything left in my stomach. I hate this."

"I know," Lee agreed. He hugged her sweaty body to his strong body, supporting her. She leaned her head on his shoulder tiredly. Lee smiled as he wiped her sweaty hair from her face. He kissed the crown of her head as he stroked her arm, comforting her quietly.

"What time is it?" Kara sleepily asked, already calming down.

"It's 9:05," Lee responded quietly.

Kara jolted a little bit, they were both already five minutes late.

Lee held onto her more tightly, not letting her move. "I am going to call down to flight deck to tell them they need somebody to cover my shift and I will tell the nuggets that you guys will start training at twelve."

Kara shook her head, trying to speak confidently, "I am fine, I can do my shift."

"I know you can, but it won't hurt them to start a little later today."

"Well, then I can't allow you to miss your CAP. I'm just going to be resting." she stated firmly.

"I'm the CAG. I can do whatever the hell I want. I will just take the twelve shift. I will switch with Hot Dog. I will be right back. I will make the call."

Kara nodded as he left the room to set everything up. Kara felt her self drifting off in her place on the cold tile floor of the bathroom. All of a sudden a pair of strong arms engulfed her as Lee picked her up and carried her to her bed. He set her down gently on the bed and pulled the blankets up to cover them. Then he turned to set her alarm clock for 11:30.

Lee was about to walk out of the room to go catch a little nap on the couch, when Kara's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Lee, will you please not tell anybody that you had to carry me to my bed?"

Lee smiled at Kara as he walked back and kissed her on the forehead, swiping her hair out of her eyes. "I promise I will not tell a single soul."

Kara sighed as she nestled into her covers. "Good, I don't want to think about what my nuggets would say if they heard that," Kara mumbled as she nodded off.

Lee just shook his head as he turned off the lights, she was never going to change.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"So, Starbuck why are we starting so late this fine morning," one of the nuggets asked as he stretched his arms out behind him.

Starbuck glared from behind her podium, not liking this hot shot pilot, Jake Altair, more and more everyday because he reminded her of when she had been in The Academy. She had been working with these nuggets for a few weeks now. They were a smaller batch than the first round, and not as qualified, but they had just as much spirit, as the one pilot displayed. She had already gave most of them their call signs, except for this one. She couldn't figure out a good one for him.

"Well, that would be none of your business Altair," Starbuck reminded him.

"I bet you were feeling a little under the weather, you know with that bun in the oven," Altair smirked at Starbuck, feeling daring this morning.

Starbuck dug her nails into her palm as she stared down Altair. She felt like punching him, however, the only thing that was stopping her was Commander Adama had stepped into the training room. "Lt. Thrace may I please have a word with you?"

"Yes sir, I was just finishing up with Ham," Starbuck smirked at Altair as his face dropped when he figured out he just earned his call sign.

Starbuck gave quick instructions to look at a certain page of the manual before stepping out of the hatch into the deserted walkway.

"Kara, I just wanted to make sure you were fine. I heard that you and my son switched shifts," Adama said, his voice filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. I had a really bad bout of morning sickness, and Lee forced me to go back to bed and he pushed my class back. Then he refused to go on his CAP so he could stay with me to make sure I was ok."

Adama nodded, understanding. "I see. I remember staying with Lee's mother when she had morning sickness, it can get pretty bad sometimes. You listen to Lee, he knows what is best for you."

Kara smiled at Adama's informal order. "But, that is taking advantage of his rank."

"Let him do it. He isn't causing any harm, and if it's for your health, I want him to do it. I don't need you passing out during your duty, and I sleep better at night knowing that Lee is watching out for you. Nothing too bad can happen with that man around. Not to mention, I know for a fact that most of the crew does not mind. You and my son are pretty well liked on this ship, contrary to what you may believe."

Kara laughed, feeling relief knowing that she had more people behind her than her previous assumption. It's a good feeling to not be alone. "Well, thank you for your concern, sir. I will try to be less obstinate with your son."

Adama chuckled as he patted Kara on the shoulder. "That's good, now you better get back into your training session."

"Yes, sir." Kara turned to go back into the room.

However, Adama had one more thing to say. "Are you sure that you want to saddle that pilot with the call sign Ham?"

Kara smiled at Adama, simply stating, "nobody questions my authority and more importantly nobody tells me I have a bun in my oven." She turned on her heel and stepped into the room.

Adama chortled, shaking his head. She would never change.

A/N-Yay for another chapter. I have to say, that this one took a while because I kept reworking the first section because it seemed awkward to me. Then I was planning on that being most of my chapter, however when that only ended up being half, I had to think of something else to write, which had me stuck for the last couple of day. I have a lot of different scenes I want to write, but they are more when Kara is further along. So, I had to think of something new, and well this inspiration just came to me this morning after struggling with the story for over an hour last night. Thank you for the tremendous support, you guys make my day. Please drop a review to tell me what you liked and what didn't work for you. I hope to post again soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

If I was sincere  
And whispered my fears  
Would you still be here?  
-Michelle Featherstone, Stay

"Starbuck, I'm sorry I have some bad news to tell you," a young mechanic told her as she stepped onto the flight deck.

"Well, what is it about?" Starbuck said impatiently, not wanting to hear the latest frak up of the deck crew.

"It's about Zak. He crashed and well, there was a fire and there were no survivors," the mechanic told her sadly, unsure of what to do.

Kara felt like her stomach dropped out from under her as she ran to the crashed viper. They were pulling a charred body out of the cockpit and laying it on the cold concrete ground. Kara ran over and dropped down next the body. The corpse was blackened in places, but there was some resemblance of a human. Kara grabbed his upper body and started to cradle him, and it was at that moment that she realized something. The body was slightly heavier and had a bigger built. She let her hand run across the charred flesh and she caught a glimpse of blue eye under the half closed lids.

Somebody from the crew noticed what Kara had. "This isn't Zac Adama, it's Lee Adama. He must have been covering for his little brother not being here."

Kara felt like her world crashed around her. She started sobbing, rocking the body back and forth. "Why do you always have to do what's right Lee? I can't do this by myself. I need you here. Why did you go? Why? Why? Why?" Her voice became steadily louder, to the point it was screaming.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Kara wake up. KARA!" Lee yelled while shaking Kara's body that was thrashing around uncontrollably. "It was just a nightmare, you are fine," Lee continued, trying to knock sense into her.

Her eyes darted open suddenly, her eyes filled with fear. She glanced around her, taking in the surroundings, trying to comprehend she wasn't on the flight deck but in her personal room. Her eyes finally rested upon Lee. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she realized that Lee was standing over her, alive and without a scratch on his God-like body. Her body relaxed as she fell back into the bed crying, not able to drop the terror that gripped her heart when she had been holding Lee's dead body in her dream. It had seemed so real. She even thought she could smell burning flesh.

Lee didn't know what to do. He had never seen Kara like this. Ok, he has seen her cry on a rare occasion and he has even seen her unsure of herself, but the look of fear in her eyes. It made his blood run cold as he thought of what it would have to take to frighten her. This was new territory.

Luckily, Kara spoke up before he even had to decide what to do. "Will you stay with me?" Her voice was pleading and uncertain. She sounded like a small child that needed her parents.

"Of course I will," Lee said without hesitation. He climbed under the covers and laid down facing Kara. Tears were still streaming down her face, but her crying had subsided. Lee reached out to wipe those tears away, his callused hands grazed her soft cheek lightly, making her shiver under the warm covers.

As her breathing became more regulated, Lee couldn't keep himself from voicing his curiosity. "What was the dream about?"

Kara tensed for a second, her mind flashing once again to Lee's burned carcass. She didn't want to tell him about that specifically. It felt too personal to tell him that her worst fear was losing him. However, she opted to tell him her second greatest fear right now. "I had a dream that I was left alone to raise this baby."

Lee looked at her, confused, not completely understanding. "You won't be alone, you know I will be here and the rest of Galactica is behind you having this baby."

"I know, but it just scares me that I will frak everything up like my mother did." Kara inhaled quickly, wanting to take the words back that she had spoken.

Lee tensed, as the words dawned on him. His father had mentioned one time or another that Kara's childhood had been hard, but he never pushed the issue. He always brushed it off as having parents that were never there or they didn't approve of her life. It had never occurred to him that it might have been something worse than that. "Were you abused by your mother?" Lee questioned hesitantly, not knowing if he really wanted to know the answer.

Kara closed her eyes for a moment, trying to avoid Lee's demanding eyes. She had always kept this part of her life private. She hadn't even told Zak about her mother. The only person that knew was Adama and that was because he had seen her records. They said that she had run away numerous times, only to be taken back to her mom. There was also her medical records that had numerous visits to the hospital after one of her "accidents."

Finally collecting herself a little, Kara opened her eyes slightly and in a weak voice Lee had never heard before, she simply state, "yes."

Lee didn't want to push, knowing that this was causing Kara pain, dredging up the memories of her childhood. But, he felt that if he truly wanted to know her hesitations of being a mother, he had to know the whole story. He reached out to her hand that was laying between them and grasped and pulled it to her his lips kissing it. He held onto her hand, tracing small circles with his thumb, trying to give her a small amount of comfort before going on. "What happened to you Kara?"

Kara bit down on her lip softly, wondering if she should tell Lee about something she had buried a long time. At first, she didn't see the point in telling him anything, but then it occurred to her how much he cared and this would be an opportunity to make sure that he was going to stick around. "My mother had always been strict when I was growing up, however the first time something really bad happened was when I was 11 and I had just come home from school…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I'm home!" Eleven year old Kara yelled as she threw her backpack on the ground while she came running in to the house. Kara continued on into the empty kitchen and started to make herself a sandwich while humming quietly.

A minute or two later, a tall thin figure stepped into the room, smiling slightly as she looked at her daughter. "Why so happy Kara?"

Kara looked up in surprise at her mother, not hearing her enter the room. She looked at her mother and briefly debated if she should say anything, but being naïve, she decided to speak. "School was really good today."

"What was so great about school. If I remember correctly you aren't too fond of it."

Kara grinned at her mother. "That was before Aaron."

Her mother's smile became very thin as she heard those words. "And who is Aaron?"

"He's my boyfriend," Kara said as her face lit up with the thought that a boy liked her. She always got along well enough with them, well that is when she wasn't fighting them. However, she never thought that one of them would notice that she was a girl. She hadn't even the slightest idea that she wanted that type of attention, that is until Aaron came along. Kara was brought back to the present as she looked at her mothers stricken face.

"And what have you and this boy done. Have you held hands, kissed?"

Kara felt her stomach do a flip flop as she finally realized her mother wouldn't approve of her actions. "No, we didn't do any of that. He just passed me a note in class, asking if I wanted to be his girlfriend and I said yes."

Her mother's face didn't show any sign of relief at these words. If anything, her eyes seemed to bulge out and her face all of a sudden became very red. "I don't believe it," her mother said through clenched teeth. "You did dirty things with him." She started walking towards Kara slowly.

Kara backed away, moving to the front room, trying to put space between her mother and herself. "I am telling the truth. I haven't done anything wrong."

"You're lying! The Gods do not approve of such behavior. You are acting sinful," Kara's mother seethed as she moved in on Kara.

Kara didn't know what to do. She kept backing up, but she was stopped by the couch. Her mother was blocking the exit, so the only thing she could do was stand there as her mother approached. Kara was trying to act strong by looking her mother in the eye and not crying, but she couldn't keep tears of fear from falling down her pale cheeks. She tried one last time to plead with her mother. "Please, I swear I didn't do anything. I wouldn't do anything."

"You're lying, you filthy little whore," her mother spat out while raising her hand. She let it fall and in the silent room there was a resounding smack as it came in contact with Kara's face. The force sent her reeling, but she caught herself on the couch. However, her balance did not last long as Kara's mother reached out and grabbed Kara's hair, throwing her to the ground. Kara then heard a loud crack as her mother's shoe collided with her abdomen.

Kara no longer held back the sobs as her mother beat her, yelling obscenities at her. She tried to keep her hands over her head, waiting for the nightmare to end. Eventually, she blacked out, waking up in the hospital, where doctors believed that she had fallen from down a hill.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"That wouldn't be the last time either, I was in and out of hospitals until I was 17, old enough to finally get out of there. Sometimes I wonder if that was the reason I became a pilot. At night when I would be looking out my window, planning my next escape, it always seemed that in any direction, they could come after me. However, if I could just get up to the stars, they wouldn't be able to catch me any more. It was a silly thought, but somehow, that was my hope that I lived with, that someday I could reach the stars," Kara confessed something that she hadn't told anybody else, and she was nervous about it. Nobody knew this side of her. She stared at Lee, waiting patiently for his response.

Lee shook his head, not really knowing what there was to say. What was the right response to a situation like this? "You should have told me this. It would have made me apologize to my dad a long time ago, makes him look like a barrel of laughs."

Kara smiled at Lee, knowing that sarcasm was their safe ground between them. "This doesn't change your mind about me being a mother?"

Lee was quick to answer this time, "not at all. You think that just because your mom was frakked up that you will be too?"

Kara laughed, "I am frakked up."

Lee chuckled, "but in a good way. You are a beautiful disaster. That in no way is going to make you a bad mother. I don't know why I have to keep telling you this, but you are going to be fine, even if you had to do this alone. You are the strongest person I know, and I know for a fact that if anybody could do this, it would be you."

Kara felt something twist in her as she heard these sweet words come from Lee. She leaned forward and hugged him, burying her head in his bare chest. She felt so comfortable and content with being honest with Lee, she decided to take it one step further. "Lee?"

"hmmm?" Lee mumbled through her hair, as he held her close to him.

"The dream was about you dying," Kara stated simply.

Lee pulled back, holding Kara at arms length, confusion written all over his face. "What do you mean? I thought you said that your dream was about you being alone."

"It was, but I was alone because you had died in the crash instead of Zak," Kara started to cry again. "I had been holding your burned body, and it was horrible. My worst fear is that I will lose you." Kara couldn't continue any further.

Lee's heart started to speed up as many different thoughts went buzzing through his head. It dawned on him that she was telling him how she felt. Not directly, maybe, but in her own way nonetheless. He felt at peace, finally hearing from her lips that he was important to her. He had always known it, or else they wouldn't always be back and forth, fighting and making up. But it was nice to hear for once, and maybe, just maybe she felt the same way. The thought gave him hope and courage to do what he did next, kiss her.

Lee leaned in slowly, giving her a soft kiss. It was short and sweet.

Lee leaned back, pulling Kara into a tight hug. "You aren't going to be without me. A life without you isn't worth living."

Kara sniffled and pulled her face back so she could look in his eyes. "But, things are going to be so frakked up. You didn't ask to be a father of your friends child."

Lee smiled sweetly at Kara, taking a deep breath. "No, I didn't ask for it, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am very excited to be a father. Not to mention it means staying with the woman I love."

There was a heavy silence in the room as those last few words hung in the air, waiting for Kara to fully grasp them. "But..."

Lee shushed her, putting his finger on her lips. "No, don't try to brush off those words or to push past them. It is obvious to everybody else on this ship how I feel about you. I think you may feel the same way and we could have something if both of us would stop being so stubborn and childish. I love you Kara, I really do."

Kara let the tears roll down her face as she looked at the man that was being so wonderful to her. She didn't deserve it, yet here he was nonetheless. All she wanted to do right now was give him her heart, but something was holding her back, something she couldn't ignore. "But, Zak..."

Lee quickly started to speak, "Kara, we can not keep coming back to him. He has been dead for over two years. It's time we both moved on."

"I know, I just can't help but feel we are betraying him," Kara admitted.

"But, we aren't. He would want us to be happy, Plus, he would probably would find it hilarious that his fiance ended up with his brother," Lee smiled.

Kara laughed, it did sound like to Zak. He would definitely see the humor in the situation. In all seriousness, though, Lee was right. She did want to be happy, and Lee could make that happen. Kara took a deep breath, "Lee, I love you too."

They both lay in the comfortable silence after those words. There really was nothing else to say after all. They knew they had each other and this baby, and that's all they needed. Somehow they knew that everything else would fall into place.

A/N-Well, sorry for the long wait. I fell off the wagon with my writing because of the beginning of the new quarter. So many excuses...and not enough time, lol. Mainly three things I want to say. One of my distractions was I was making a fan-mix for Kara/Lee and so if you are interested in those you can find it at Livejournal, and it is called Battlestar Galactica Fanmix community or the actually user name is bsgmix. Mine is the top one right now, and my user at livejournal is the same as my pen name, Chrisfaithalin. Second, my updating may be slower than usual, because like I said, I am in a new quarter at college and I am doing an overload which means 19 credits. My classes aren't too hard, but it just gets distracting. However, I will continue this story, I still have a couple more chapters at least and I have a decent idea of what is going to happen next. The last thing I want to say is THANK YOU! I could never imagine such positive feedback for one of my stories. Like I said, I have gotten a lot of reviews for my hp stuff, but nothing as enthusiastic and genuine as the feedback I get from this story. I love it, and love you guys for it. You have really lit a fire under me to continue this story, so thank you. Please tell me what you think and hopefully you will be hearing from me soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I swear to the Lords of Kobol that you are going to zip up!" Kara told her pants as she struggled to get them up her ever growing stomach.

Lee walked in from his shower and laughed as Kara talked to her pants. She gave him a cold glare to stifle his chuckles. "Having problems dear?"

"You know I could punch you," Kara growled, still having problems with the pants.

"Yeah, but that still won't wipe this scene from my mind," Lee laughed as she panted with effort from trying to get the pants on. He got behind her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck. "You know we could just keep these pants off for a while. What's the rush to dress."

Kara moaned, leaning back into his embrace. "You have CAP and I have to help out in CIC. Your dad seems to think I will be of use to him there."

"I could make a few calls to get us off shift this morning," Lee whispered, trailing kissed up her neckline.

"That would be using your powers for evil," Kara sighed, trying hard to resist his touch.

"I don't mind turning evil for you," Lee mumbled, smiling against her skin.

Kara gathered all her strength to push him away, trying to put a little distance between them. "We both know you aren't going to do that. Your genes won't let you break the rules."

Lee chuckled, moving on to continue getting dressed. "I am with you, aren't I? That's against the rules."

"And I am surprised you have made it this far without cracking and telling your dad or somebody."

"Yeah, well, we should be telling him soon. I mean he really ought to know, for more reasons than I can count."

Kara nodded, "I agree. We will should definitely do that soon."

"Here," Lee said as he tossed Kara a pile of clothes.

"What's this?" Kara looked at the uniform in her hands.

"It's one of mine, it should get you by for a little while."

"Ugh, they are going to be so long." Kara grimaced, at the thought. Everybody will know whose uniform she was wearing.

Lee shrugged, "it's either that or trying to force your own pants to fit.

"Fine," Kara said as she pulled Lee's pants on. "But, I am going to be needing real maternity clothes soon. I don't think there is a maternity uniform on this ship."

"I will get right on that."

"But, please don't make it too frilly or flowery, plain and simple."

Lee rolled his eyes as he did up the last button on his uniform. "It's not like there is a store I can go to. You will be getting what can be found."

Kara looked a little crestfallen. "Fine. I hate when you are right."

Lee smiled, "you should be used to it by now."

"I know."

"Well, I'm off. Have fun in CIC," Lee leaned down giving Kara a quick kiss.

"Oh I will," Kara said as he left the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lights started along with the alarm, indicating cylons had been detected. Kara stood alert, not able to shake the feeling that she should be out there, shooting those frakking bastards. But no, she was stuck in CIC, listening to Lee's voice as he started ordering instructions and reporting the three raiders that had come into the area.

Everybody in CIC was tense, not able to do much more than listening, praying for the best. It was hard to muddle through all the shouting, cursing, and actual messages over the intercom. So far, one of the raiders had been shot down. After a few moments of anxiousness, Lee's voice came over the intercom, "Apollo needs to speak to Starbuck, now."

Kara looked around at everybody, who were as clueless as her. It was a strange request, and nobody could ignore the fear that was in Lee's voice.

Kara stepped over, picking up the hand set, cutting off the intercom so nobody else could hear them. "Starbuck here."

"Starbuck, I got myself into some trouble. I have a cylon behind me who I can't shake. And he has pulled me away from the fleet, no where near any of the other vipers."

Starbuck sighed, "just flip around on him."

Apollo growled, "don't you think I have tried that. He anticipates it and flies over me to come behind me again. There is a lot of shooting and I have been lucky so far, but that luck won't last much longer."

She racked her brain, visualizing what Apollo was going through. There had to be something? "You are going to have to do a loop-d-loop."

"For fraks sake, I haven't done that since flight school, and even then I couldn't do it properly."

"Apollo it is your only choice. Do it, that's an order."

"I think you forgot that I outrank you. You can't do anything to me."

She looked around her, glancing at all the faces that were staring at her, wondering what the half of the conversation was. "I can _**not** _do something."

"What are you..."he trailed off figuring out what he was talking about. "This is not the...FRAK! That was close. Ok, I am doing it. Here goes nothing."

"Lee, come home." Kara said softly, but not really caring who heard her. She set down the handset, pushing the intercom button, so everybody could listen.

"I will," Lee quickly responded before performing the maneuver. He quickly thrust himself upwards and backwards, as if he was going to try to pull behind the raider. The cylon, anticipating this and turned around, to catch Lee's Viper head on when it came back. Instead, Lee quickly did a 180 and went back down, coming behind the cylon and started firing at it, quickly destroying it.

"WHOOO! I got it, Galactica, I am coming home." There was cheering heard through out CIC at the small victory they had.

Kara let out a loud breath as Adama came over giving her a quick hug. "Great job Starbuck."

"Thank you sir," Kara replied, thinking of Lee.

"Let's go welcome him back," Adama smiled, reading Kara's mind.

Kara nodded and headed off in a brisk pace towards the flight deck. She wasn't thinking about the corridors or the fact that she was tripping over her pant legs, that had fallen from the pins she had put them in earlier. She didn't register this at all as she walked in autopilot, just thinking of her destination, Lee.

She caught sight of him just as he was getting out of the viper. He had a great big grin on his face. Kara quickened her pace towards him. He saw her coming and opened out his arms to welcome her into them. However, Kara had another idea.

As she finally got into reach of Lee, she brought her arm back and punched Lee. Luckily, she didn't put all of her strength in it, but nonetheless he stumbled backwards slightly.

"That was for being stupid enough to let a cylon lead you away. And this is for coming back in one piece," as she said this she leaned forward and then gave Lee a kiss before falling forward, embracing him tightly.

Lee had a dumbstruck look on his face as he registered what happened. That was not the welcome back he had been expecting. But then, when was anything that Kara did expected? Lee smiled and closed his eyes, resting his head on her shoulder.

They were like this for a brief moment or two before they came back to reality at the sound of the raspy voice of Adama, "I need to see you two in my office."

Lee and Kara glanced at each other, knowing they had made a mistake in not telling Adama earlier. It was too late now, and all they could do was follow Adama down the corridors towards his office. Lee and Kara held hands as they followed, like two children in trouble, which pretty much what they were.

They stepped into the room and took their seats, Adama behind his desk while the "children" sat down in front of it, not letting go of each other's hand figuring it couldn't do any more harm.

Adama, not really one to beat around the bush, simply stated, "so, you two are dating."

Kara and Lee looked up at him, a look of thought on their faces. Neither had really defined what was happening between them. It just changed one night, one day they were sleeping in separate rooms, the next...not so much. And the idea that they were dating, was a little weird. They hadn't really gone on a date, yet there was Adama, waiting for their answer.

Lee, being the logical one, spoke first, "I wouldn't say that we are dating."

Adama rolled his eyes, "romantically involved, casually seeing each other, friends with benefits, frakking. What do you want to call it?"

Lee's mouth dropped at the bluntness of his father. He really didn't want to be having this conversation with the commander of this ship, but most of all he didn't want to be talking to his father about it. Times like this it sucked having the commander be your father.

Kara tried her luck at words. "We don't know. It just happened a month ago and it can't really be explained."

Kara looked at Lee for support, but he replied in a surprising way. "It wasn't a month ago, it was 29 days. Tomorrow is our one month anniversary."

Kara gave Lee a dumbfounded look. "No, I remember very vividly that day, it had been exactly one month ago."

"No you are wrong."

"How? For once I am positive that I am right."

"No, you think that we were together, when in fact we kissed at past midnight, which means that it technically was the next day, which makes me right."

Kara thought to herself for a few minutes, counting, and then her face fell as she realized, that once again Lee was right.

"So, for 29 days, you two have been lying to me," Adama broke their thoughts as he pointed out why they were there.

"Yes," Lee said quietly.

"Well, I just wish you had told me earlier."

Both Kara and Lee's mouth dropped as they realized that he wasn't angry at all. He actually looked a little amused.

"You mean you aren't angry?" Kara asked.

"I knew it would happen eventually. Everybody else on this damn ship can see it."

"But, we thought you would be upset, about us breaking regs or about Zac," Kara voiced her worries.

"The fraternization policies have to beadjusted, because in no way do I believe that people aren't going to be having relationships, being stuck on this ship. And like the President told me, we need to be having babies." Everybody in the room smiled, as they could easily hear the President saying those words. Adama continued on, "as for Zac. Well., I think that he would be happy that you two are finally moving on and lets face it, he would find it damn hilarious at the irony of it all."

Kara and Lee nodded, very relieved at the way this conversation was going.

"We're sorry for not telling you," Lee apologized sincerely.

"Next time, please let me know what is going on. I prefer not to find out by seeing you to kiss on the flight deck in front of half the crew."

Kara laughed, "will do."

"You're excused," Adama told them as he stood up to let them out.

Kara and Lee got up and headed for the hatch, ready to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

"And you two?" Adama spoke as they stepped out of the hatch.

They turned around, facing Adama who was holding the hatch open. "I am very happy for you two. I just want you guys to be happy."

"We are," Lee and Kara replied together as they turned back around to head to their room.

A/N-Sorry about the wait. I have been distracted by a new toy, Windows Movie Maker. I have been really working on two music videos for Kara/Lee which you can find at Beyond Insane at livejournal. Sorry about that. Anywho, I have still more ideas for this story, although I don't know how many chapters I am going to make it. I think I am going to try for 10 (I like nice round numbers, lol). But we will see. I don't know if I will be writing for a while, but we will just play it by ear and remember I won't abandon this story even if it takes me months to get out a new chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, and please tell me what you thought of this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

"Chapter 6

Kara jolted awake as her personal alarm echoed through the room. She quickly hit it while slowly rising from bed, trying resist the temptation to fall back under the warm covers. She glanced at the empty half of the bed and felt a slight drop in her stomach as she remembered that Lee had been up many hours earlier, pulling an early CAP. Then he would be off to do paperwork. She probably wouldn't see him all day.

Kara stood out of bed and tripped over something on the floor. She looked down at a rather large box with a scrawled note taped to the top. She brought the box on top of the bed and sat down next to it, picking up the note on top.

_**Kara,**_

_**These are the clothes that were promised. The president personally helped acquire these clothes, so be grateful. Hope your day goes well.**_

_**Lee**_

Kara grinned at the rising feeling of importance. The president helped find her maternity clothes. She felt honored as she ripped open the box and pulled out the top article of clothing.

"No frakking way," Kara muttered as she held up a very pink and flowery peasant top. She dug through the clothes, hoping to find something plain and simple. No such luck. A large portion of the tops were pink, must have been the previous owners favorite color. Luckily the pants were plain slacks with expanding wastes, but where the pants were plain, the tops made up for the rest.

Lee's amused face when looking at these clothes flashed through Kara's mind and she all of a sudden had the rising urge to punch something.

"He frakking did this on purpose," Kara accused the empty room.

When the room didn't respond to her accusation, she continued on, "I am not going to wear these. No way in hell is anybody on Galactica going to see me in these clothes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kara held her head high as she walked through Galactica's corridors in the pink peasant top that was completed with the bell sleeves and the lace trim around the collar. It took everything within her to ignore the giggles as people passed her. One of her former nuggets even had the nerve to salute her as he passed, a grin covering his face.

She stepped into CIC and she could hear the coughs as people suppressed their laughter. Adama himself had a grin on his face.

Tigh didn't even try to hide his amusement as he laughingly joked, "good morning, _Starbuck."_

Adama gave Tight a look that quieted his laughter, hoping that Kara was in a good mood today. He really didn't want to send a pregnant woman to the brig.

"Why, it's been a lovely morning, sir," Kara replied in a sickeningly sweet voice, while digging her nails in her palms, trying to keep her body from throwing a punch at the XO in front of the commanding officer.

"Good to hear Starbuck," Adama laughed.

"So, what do we have today? Another day of standing around waiting for the cylons to come?" Kara questioned.

"Actually no. Right now we have Apollo and Ham on CAP and there seems nothing to report there. However, I did want to talk to you in private about a new mission."

Kara nodded as though she understood, when really she didn't see what she could do in her state. She followed Adama anyways into the planning room and watched as the XO followed her. She turned around and glared at the chuckling XO, which quieted him. Once in the room she noticed that Billy and the President were in there as well.

"Ah, glad to see you got the clothes I sent out for, Lt. Thrace."

"Yes, Madam President, I did. I can not thank you enough for these. I really appreciate it," Kara choked out, trying really hard to keep her smile plastered to her face. She really was thankful the effort the President had put into finding her some decent maternity clothes.

The President's face lit up in genuine happiness. "It was my pleasure. I have found a new vigor in life after the Doctors operation."

Moving on to safer topics, Kara relaxed and gave the President a genuine smile. "So you are doing well then?"

"Very well indeed. Thank you for asking," the President replied in her soft voice.

"Not to be rude, but I do have a pressing issue that we need to talk about," Commander Adama interrupted. Everybody nodded for him to continue. "Now before I begin I have to tell you that what I am about to say is very confidential. I don't even want to think about what would happen if the fleet found about this information."

Adama waited for everybody to nod in understanding before going on. "On our last jump we noticed a planet in the area and that might have usable resources. We sent out a raptor scout and they came back to confirm that the planet would be habitable in some areas and there would be places that we could replenish our resources."

"But if it is habitable, why don't we settle down there?" Kara questioned.

"For numerous reasons. The planet has harsh conditions, habitable yes, but still it wouldn't make for a pleasant life. The biggest reason is the raptor scout told us they spotted numerous cylon raiders circling the area. They also noticed construction on what can only be the beginnings of a base."

"If the cylons know about this planet, then we should be getting out of here as soon as possible," Roslin stated simply.

"I couldn't agree with you more Madam President, however we really shouldn't pass up this opportunity to restock our water and tilium sources," Adama responded.

"I agree with the commander," Tigh spoke up.

"Well, what do you propose we do about this?" President Roslyn asked, resigning to the fact that they could use this planet.

"Well, that is where Lt. Thrace comes in. I need a plan to get past the numerous cylon raiders and to quickly decimate the small group of cylons on the surface."

Kara nodded, her brain already running through different plans. "That doesn't sound too difficult."

Adama was about to open his mouth to respond when the alarms sounded. Immediately everybody in the room emptied out into CIC. Most of CIC was stock still as they waited in anticipation to hear what was going on out there.

"Galactica, Apollo there are three cylon raiders out there. Send alert fighters," Lee's voice crackled over the intercom.

"Ham, follow me out there."

"Copy that, sir," Hams voice shakily replied, everybody in CIC hearing his insecurity about the situation. Kara noted that this was his first encounter with the cylons. He had been on flight status for at least a month now, but he had never come across the cylons.

"Ham tighten up," Lee ordered.

"I got it," replied back.

There must have been an improvement because nothing was said over the next couple of minutes. However the silence was broken by Lee's yells. "Ham keep moving, I'll be there in a minute."

"I can't shake him."

"Just keep moving!"

"I can't, it is going to get me."

"No, just don't let it," Lee insisted as he tried to finish off the cylon that was in front of him.

"I'm try-" Ham's voice was cut off with heavy crackling.

"NOOO!" Lee yelled, banging his hand on the side of the cockpit. There were a few minutes of Lee's grunts as he killed the last cylon.

"Galactica, Apollo all cylons are accounted for."

"Status on Ham?" Dee spoke into her head set.

"Killed in action," Lee spoke stiffly.

Kara felt her stomach drop as she collapsed on her knees, shaking her head. She had trained him. He should have been ready for this. Kara saw Adama walk towards her and she immediately realized she had just broken down in CIC. She instantly jumped up and made a run for her quarters, barely seeing anything as tears blinded her vision.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Captain, you have a call waiting for you," Chief called out to Lee as he jumped out of his viper.

Lee nodded and jogged over to the phone, trying to push all thoughts of what happened out of his mind. The hope of that was shot down as he heard his fathers voice on the other line.

"Apollo?" Adama questioned.

"Yeah," Lee responded as he turned his back to the crew, wanting to shield the conversation from everybody else.

"Lee we need to talk about what happened," Adama spoke softly, even though he was by himself in his private quarters.

Lee sighed, not really wanting to have this conversation right now when the wounds were so fresh. Every time he lost a pilot it took its toll on him, no matter how long he had known them. "Look dad, I'm fine. I'll come by later and we can talk."

"Although I'm glad to hear that, I actually called about Kara," Adama paused letting his words sink in.

"Kara?" Lee's heart started to speed up, his whole body was heating up at the prospect that something was wrong with Kara.

"Yes, when Ham got killed she broke down, collapsed on the ground. I had never seen her like this. I was walking towards her when she stood up and ran for her quarters."

Lee took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hand, trying to think this through. "Ham was one of her nuggets, wasn't he?"

"Yes, part of her last batch. Do you think that it has anything to do with some lingering feelings about Zac?"

Lee shook his head even though his father couldn't see him. "I honestly don't know. I thought she had gotten over that guilt when she had told us."

"Well, that's not something somebody is going to recover from overnight," Adama replied.

"Yeah, I know. She just hadn't mentioned it in a long time. I just assumed. Well, I better go and see her about this."

"Good, I thought it would be better that you handle this. And remember, to come by later to talk to me," Adama added quickly.

"I will dad, thank you," Lee responded softly before hanging up the hand set.

He turned around and headed towards his quarters, not really knowing what to expect

"Kara?" he called out as he closed the hatch behind him. There was no answer. "Kara?" he yelled out a little louder. He heard a sound muffled through the bathroom door. He went to to open the door, however it was locked.

"Kara, come out of there."

"No," Kara replied simply.

She didn't sound broken down, which relieved Lee. "Kara we need to talk."

"I don't want to."

Lee's relief faded as he heard stubbornness and anger in her voice. "I will shoot down this door if I need to."

There was no reply, which Lee didn't like. He pulled out his sidearm and aimed it at the handle. "Step away from the door!"

As he said it, the door clicked and opened up suddenly. "Oh Gods, put the gun away, Lee."

Lee put it safely away while asking, "what happened back in CIC?"

"Figures that your dad would rat me out," Kara growled angrily.

Lee rolled his eyes, "there is nothing to rat out. Stop being so childish. He called me because he was concerned, and right now I feel like he had a reason to be concerned."

"I don't want to talk about it."

She was trying to push him away, and he was going to push right back. "Well, tough Kara, because I am not going anywhere. I am going to stand right here until you tell me what is wrong."

"I want to have sex," Kara stated simply and pushed Lee against the wall, kissing him roughly.

Lee was having a hard time concentrating. He knew there was something that he was supposed to be talking about with Kara, but her lips on him was proving itself to be a very big distraction. It took him a few minutes but he was able to forcibly push Kara away from him.

"Kara, as much as I would love to frak you senseless, we can't."

"It's because I'm fat, isn't it?"

Lee growled and ran his hands through his hair. "KARA! Talk to me."

Kara looked around the room, at anything but his eyes. She knew once she looked into his eyes, she would spill everything.

"Kara," he whispered so softly and gently that Kara couldn't help but glance into his pleading eyes. She was lost.

"He was my responsibility and he frakked up," she spoke softly.

"But, that isn't your fault. You can't keep doing this to yourself every time a pilot dies just because of what happened with Zac."

"I know it wasn't my fault. It's his, that bastard should have not made the stupid mistake of letting the cylon get behind him."

"We all make mistakes. Just a month ago I had a cylon behind me that I couldn't shake."

"Yeah and you were a bastard for letting that happen too," Kara argued back.

"What? The great Starbuck has never made mistake?" Lee felt his anger rise.

Kara glared back, "not one that has cost me my life."

"Yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kara glared.

"You have pulled more stupid stunts than everybody on this ship combined, but just because you are some frakking God in the air, nothing has happened yet. You can't just expect everybody else at being as amazing at flying as you."

Kara studied Lee, his face scrunched up in anger and frustration. She couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked. "Me? A God in the air?"

Lee smirked at Kara, "don't let it go to your head, not to mention you are nothing compared to me. After all my call sign is Apollo."

Kara smiled sweetly and huskily replied, "I think you got your call sign for your amazing body, not your flying capabilities."

Lee felt the blush creep up his cheeks as her words hit the truth.

Kara laughed. "You are so cute when you are embarrassed." She walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss before leaning her forehead against his.

Lee sighed at the comfort of having her in his arms. He wouldn't mind staying this way forever, but he had to make sure everything was ok. "Kara are you really alright?"

Kara stared into his eyes, a warm feeling spreading through her whole body as she saw love reflected in his eyes. "Not really, but I will be. I just hate losing one of my pilots, because I know I am just going to have to go out there and train a new batch, all of them having a good chance of sharing the same fate."

Lee smiled sadly, kissing her forehead before hugging her tightly. "I know. All we can do is train them the best we can, send them out there, and hope for the best." There was a few minutes of silence before Lee spoke up again, "By the way, I love your outfit today."

Kara laughed as she smacked his shoulder. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Lee shook his head. "Actually I didn't have anything to do with it. I just relayed my need to the president and she insisted that she take over the search herself."

"She seemed really pleased to seem me in them," Kara confirmed.

"I hope you were nice."

"When am I ever not a bundle of sunshine," Kara replied, indignantly.

"You don't want me answering that," Lee replied easily.

Kara harrumphed, but she couldn't do much else because Lee had captured her lips in a sweet kiss.

Yes, they would be fine, was Lee's last thoughts has he got lost in Kara's touch.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Come in," Adama called out in response to the knocking.

Lee pushed the hatch open and walked into his fathers quarters.

"Ah, glad you came to see me Lee," Adama's face lit up in smile from behind his desk where he had been working on some paperwork.

Lee sat down across the desk. "Kara is fine."

"Are you sure?" Concern was written all over Adama's face.

"Yeah, she was just a frustrated about the pilots dying. It really didn't have to do with Zac."

Adama nodded, relieved. "That's good. How about you? How are you doing?"

The picture of Kara lying in his arms earlier that evening as she drifted off in sleep. At that moment it clicked in him, that he had a life worth living and something that could turn a bad day into sweet contentment as he just laid there, the troubles of his life fading away as he got lost in her beauty. He had Kara and somehow that eased the pain of losing a pilot on his watch.

"You know what dad? I will be fine, maybe not at this moment, but I will be."

A/N-I am so glad to get this chapter done. I really had low hopes for this chapter, thinking it was going to be a stupid filler. However, I really liked how it turned out and I think it is my favorite chapter so far, has a little bit of everything. Well, I really hoped that you liked it and once again, thank you so much for the lovely support. I couldn't do it without you guys. Please read and review and tell me what you thought. Expect another chapter in a couple weeks. I have finals in three weeks so after that, I am home free. Hope to see you all soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"We are not naming our child Cleantha!" Kara yelled over her shoulder as she placed a handful of dishes into the sink.

"Why not?" Lee questioned as he came up behind Kara to set two glasses in the sink.

"Because it is a weird and abnormal name. The kid will be different enough with us as parents. Let's not add to the torment by giving it a weird name," Kara replied as she picked up a sponge to start at the dishes.

"No," Lee said quickly, snatching the sponge from her hands.

Kara turned to look at Lee, eyebrows raised in question. "Did you just take that sponge from me? I'm 7 and ½ months pregnant, not a helpless cripple."

Lee shook his head. "You are 7 and ½ months pregnant and you shouldn't be standing up that long. You can help well enough on that chair, drying dishes."

Kara wanted to argue, but she honestly was tired and her feet were sore. Not to mention, it was just too cute how protective Lee was being. She had never really seen that side of him, and it made her heart swell to think that her child was bringing this out in him.

Kara took her seat on the chair and let herself relax and forget about the troubles of her day. She didn't want to think about the imminent mission that Lee would be leading down to the planet. Instead she let her mind wander as the soft clinking of Lee scrubbing the dishes washed over her. She mindlessly dried the plate in her hand, thinking she could do this forever, have a nice home with Lee. It felt right, even through all the madness. Once she stepped through that hatch that separated them from the real world, she felt at peace. In here they were just two people in love, trying to make a life for themselves. They were no longer Captain Adama and Lieutenant Thrace or even Starbuck and Apollo. They were just Kara and Lee.

"How about Cassiopeia?" Lee wondered out loud.

"No," Kara answered quickly, shaking her head.

"Why not? We could call her Cass."

"Well Cass is nice. But this child is not being named Cassiopeia."

Lee nodded and went back to scrubbing the plate he had in his hands. He knew it was pointless to argue with Kara.

"Just out of curiosity, why do you keep coming up with girl names?"

Surprised, Lee looked up. He hadn't realized the pattern. He handed her the final dish before speaking, "I don't know."

"You really like the idea of having a girl?" Kara questioned softly, already knowing the answer.

Lee walked over to the couch and laid down, stretching out lazily. He patted the space next to him and motioned for Kara to join him. Kara walked over and curled up next to Lee, half of her body on his.

There was silence between them as they both waited for Lee to say something.

"You know whatever sex the baby is, I will love it the same?"

Kara smiled into Lee's shirt as she ran her hand over his chest. "I know you will, I just don't know about myself.

Lee looked down onto the top of Kara's head. It never ceased to amaze him how Kara had changed and opened up to him. It was new territory and it made him a little nervous. Sometimes he missed the brash Starbuck who, with a cigar in her mouth, wouldn't hesitate to tell him to frak off. But then Kara would look at him, her eyes glowing with passion and love and every doubt he had about them would melt away because he knew that he brought that out in her, no body else.

"What do you mean you don't know about yourself?" Lee finally spoke up.

"As it is, I don't know about me being a mother, but having a daughter? I just don't know much about girls."

Lee laughed, "you are a girl!"

Kara rolled her eyes at his obvious statement. "But, I have spent half of my life in the military. I'm not exactly a girly girl. Hell, I have always been more comfortable around guys and am usually thought of one of them."

Lee wanted to argue but Kara beat him to it. "I know, it doesn't seem like it now, but try to tell me you have never seen me as just another guy pal."

Lee thought about the times when they were younger and they would go out and drink on their days off from the academy. He had seen her as that, another drinking buddy. He couldn't imagine that now, with her pregnant form laying next to him.

Kara took his silence as agreement. "See, I told you. I am not good with females. I can't even braid hair."

"I don't think that really matters," Lee admitted.

"Well, I never played with dolls," Kara continued on.

"There aren't any dolls around for her to play with."

"But..."

Lee cut her off by putting his hand over her mouth. "I don't really want to hear your excuses about not having a girl because it isn't going to change anything. We will get what we get. Now I want to rest before the mission in a few hours."

Kara tensed up with the thought of the impending mission.

"What?" Lee asked as he felt Kara freeze up.

Kara shook her head, not wanting to answer.

Lee tilted Kara's head towards him, forcing her to look him in the eye. He didn't say anything, but just pleaded with his eyes.

"I'm just afraid for the mission." Kara admitted.

"There's nothing to worry about. The plan is great, I mean you wrote it."

"That's what I am afraid of."

"It will be fine. Your missions have worked in the past, it will work now."

Kara paused before speaking quickly and firmly, "you have to come back to me this time. No floating in space wanting to die."

Lee's heart jumped, fearful that Kara even thought such a thing. He turned over so that he was hovering over Kara as she lay under him. He stared into her eyes, willing her to see his soul.

He leaned in giving her a slow, but passionate kiss, saying what he felt without words.

"I am coming coming back you," Lee said confidently.

Kara just nodded softly, believing him.

Lee gave her another kiss before settling in next to her. They laid in comfortable silence for a while.

Lee suddenly perked up. "For the baby, how about..."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lee jumped out of his cockpit, happy as hell that he made it back in one piece, and surprisingly enough so did the rest of his squadron. Handing his helmet to one of the deckhands he ran over to where Kara was readily waiting. He hesitated for just a second, remembering the time he had returned home and had been rewarded with a punch and a kiss. Then it ran across his mind that even a blow from Kara couldn't bring him down from his euphoric state.

Punching Lee was the last thing on Kara's mind as she lunged at Lee and fell into his waiting arms. She couldn't contain herself, heart pounding and adrenaline rushing, knowing that the worse danger had pass. There would always be worry, considering they were living in dangerous times, however it felt good to know that they made it through one more day.

"Thank the Lords you came back," Kara whispered in his ears.

"Thank a good wingman for getting me back," Lee retorted back.

"How good?" Kara questioned, baiting Lee as she pulled back and stared into his sparkling eyes.

"Nothing compared to you of course," Lee amended teasingly

"Careful what you say Adama," Kara teased, her eyes glinting in amusement.

"What are you going to do? You are 7 and ½ months pregnant. You can't do anything but waddle in circles around me," Lee joked, enjoying the playful banter between them.

"Frak you," Kara spat out.

Lee gasped and put his hands over Kara's stomach as if he was protecting the baby. "Language in front of the child! We can't be exposing it to such behavior at such a young age."

Kara laughed loudly, "I think it has already been exposed to that language through our late night activities."

"And what activities would that be?" A gravelly voice questioned from behind Kara.

Kara froze, eyes widening in horror as she looked at Lee who was suppressing laughter. Kara turned around slowly at looked up into Adama's smiling face.

"Um, sir, well triad of course," Kara laughed, naming the first thing that came to her mind.

Adama chuckled. "Triad? That is what they are calling it nowadays?"

Kara and Lee exchanged glances and laughed, not wanting to say anything that would lengthen this uncomfortable conversation.

After a moments pause, enough to make them both uncomfortable, Adama spoke up, "congratulations son on the mission. I wanted to have a quick word with you in my office."

Lee glanced at Kara before hesitantly nodding to his father.

"Don't worry, it won't be too long. You will have plenty of time for a triad game or two."

Kara had regained here footing in the conversation, and didn't hesitate before responding, "I think it will only be one round today, I am pretty wiped out."

Adama shook his head, choosing to ignore that thought and turned around to head to his way to the office, knowing that his son was following behind him silently.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Go ahead and have a seat Captain," Adama pointed to a chair as he himself went around to sit behind his desk. "I brought you here for two reasons, one business, one personal."

"Business first," Lee stated quickly, curious as to what this was about.

Adama nodded as he picked up a small velvet box and handed it to Lee to open. "Congratulations Major."

Lee couldn't say any words as his mind reeled from this promotion. He didn't know whether he was happy about this or not, however he did know how his dad hoped he would react. "Thank you for the honor, Sir. This is quite a surprise."

Adama beamed at his son. "You deserve it, Lee. This has nothing to do with being my son. You have come along way since the attacks."

Lee nodded, feeling pleased with the sincere compliment from his father. "Thanks."

Adama smiled, continuing on. "There is something else I want to talk to you about, on a more personal note."

"What is it?"

"I have to say, I have noticed a change in you over the last couple of months." Adama studied Lee, as if still trying to understand this change.

Lee became a little alarmed. "If I have ignored my duty, I'm sorry, it's just..."

Adama cut off off his son with a wave of his hand. "No, it's something more. You seem, I don't know, happy."

"And is that bad?" Lee laughed loudly.

"No, it relieves me to see you this way. You have always been different since Zac's death, but for while around the resurrection ship mission, you seemed worse off than usual. You seemed lost and helpless."

Lee stared down at his hands, remembering those dark times. He hadn't planned on telling his dad about that time in his life, but for the first time in a long time, he decided to be open with his father. "I wanted to die, dad."

Adama felt his stomach drop as those words sunk in to his soul. He had never known it was that bad. It made him want to shake his son in anger for thinking such thoughts, and then in the same breath he wanted to hold his son close, protecting him from the world around him. Then the guilt came when he thought of how he should have saw the signs and tried to do something. He couldn't say or do anything though, so he let Lee continue.

"It's not your fault or anybodies, for that matter. This whole way of life was just getting me down and I didn't think I could continue. So, when I had ejected from the blackbird and I had that hole in my suit, I just let the air escape. I hadn't passed out or anything, I knowingly did what I did. I regret that now, because I know how hard that would have been for everybody, and I know I worried Kara, but there it is."

Adama regained his voice. "But, you're fine now."

"More than fine. I feel more alive than I have ever been in my life. I have something to live for."

"The baby," Adama whispered.

"Yeah, I know it's not mine, but it's given me hope for the future. It hasn't even been born yet and I already love it with every fiber of my being."

"And Kara?" Adama wondered. "How are you two?"

"I love her, more than I can even say. I think I always did and just couldn't say it. I will stick with her to the end."

Adama nodded, "I thought that was the case. That is the second reason I called you here. I have something I want to give you."

Adama stepped up from his desk and went over to one of his bookshelf, reaching for a small hand-carved, wooden chest. He opened it up and pulled out something small out of the container. He walked to Lee and handed out his hand, displaying a small silver ring with a small black stone in the middle with two accenting oval, brownish-red stones on the side.

"This has been in the family for a long time. I proposed to your mom with this ring, and it was her wedding ring before I could afford to by her a wedding band. I know that jewelry is a rare commodity nowadays, and I thought you might be having these types of thoughts on your mind. It's yours if you want it."

Lee picked up the ring gently and stared intently at it. The ring was simple and small, but very pretty, much like Kara. It looked like a ring she might actually wear. And his father knew him well. He had been running through the idea of proposing to her.

"Thank you dad, I will take it and use it. I'm not sure when, I want to give it some more thought, but I had been thinking about it."

Adama smiled, happy. He had always thought of Kara as part of his family, but it made his heart light to think of it being official.

"Good, I hope to see it on her finger soon."

Lee got up, getting ready to make his exit. "That is if she haves me."

Adama chuckled, "of course she will."

Lee gave his father a quick hug, whispering a quick thank you in his ear before exiting the room, knowing that Kara would be waiting for him. He hoped she was still up for a game of triad.

A/N-Sorry the chapter took so long to get out. It was finals for a while and then I had to move back home and in honesty I have been lazy. This chapter was not one I really wanted to write, but something that just had to be out of the way. Not to mention I was trying to think of ways to lengthen it. I try to write atleast 2000 words a chapter and I wanted to make that goal. Luckily this ended up being longer than I thought and I am happy with how it turned out. I hope you liked it as well. The story is kind of winding down and I have the rest thoroughly mapped out, so it is just a matter of me sitting down and writing. I do want to get this done because I have another Kara/Lee idea that I want to write. Also, if you are on livejournal, you can keep up with the story through there as well. I made a new account with the name christimalin. I will be posting all my stories, music videos, icons, backgrounds, fanmixes there. Most of the stuff is Battlestar oriented, atleast for now. So if you want to check that out, that's where I am. And finally, please review. I haven't gotten that many lately, but a lot of people are still reading. I hope that means people are just lazy but they still like the story. I just live for feedback, because I want to know if I am on the right track. So please please review, it makes my day. Thank you so much for those reading and I hope to have another chapter soon. Sorry for the long Authors Note.

Oh and if you want to see the ring that I used in the story, you can find the link in my profile.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kara turned over slowly as her mind started to wake up. She groaned a little, feeling very warm and comfortable in Lee's arms, however the baby was pushing up against her bladder and she had to get up. She wrapped the sheet around herself as she slid out of bed, trying not to disturb the sleeping form next to her.

Coming back from the bathroom, she paused when she glanced at a small velvet box next to Lee's rumpled uniform jacket laying on the kitchen table. She leaned over and picked it up, opening it to gaze at it's contents. Eyes open wide, she walked back to their bedroom where Lee was sleeping peacefully.

"What the frak is this?" Kara questioned loudly.

"What?" Lee mumbled groggily as he rolled over to face Kara.

"What the frak is this?" Kara repeated very patiently in her opinion.

He squinted his eyes to make out the fuzzy black shape in her hand. "Those are major's pins. You should know that," Lee replied rolling back over away from Kara.

Kara rolled her eyes as she crawled in the bed behind Lee. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Lee made a loud snoring sound, clearly trying to send a message to Kara that he wanted to sleep and not talk about this. Kara reached over and tickled Lee's bare sides. He let out a yelp as he flipped over to face Kara.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Kara repeated seriously, searching Lee's eyes for an answer.

"I don't know. I didn't want to spoil the mood last night."

"You being promoted would spoil the mood. Is this bad news or good news?"

Lee sighed, "I don't know. What do you think?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel, it's how you feel. Do you not want this?" Kara asked.

Lee thought about this silently as he studied Kara's concerned face. "No I don't."

"Why?"

"I'm tired of responsibility. It's kind of like I was shoved into being a cag. I never wanted to move my way up in the military. I always thought that I could just spend the rest of my life being a viper pilot. But, it just so happens that I'm needed to be a cag."

Kara nodded understandingly. "You should have told your father this."

"I couldn't. He has nobody else. These are hard times and it is slim picking for people qualified for promotion. I mean if it hadn't been for the end of the world, I probably would have never been cag."

"No, I don't believe that for a second. You are an amazing leader, like your father. One way or the other you would have found your way into a position of responsibility. And being a major doesn't mean you will stop being our cag, does it? I mean you like being a cag now don't you?"

Lee smiled. "I can think of a few perks. I don't think I will be moved around at the moment."

"Good," Kara spoke resolutely, leaning over for a quick kiss.

"I'm surprised you are taking this so well," Lee told Kara.

"What do you mean. I don't care if you are promoted or not, it's how you feel about it."

"You haven't thought about it all the way through have you?" Lee took Kara's blank stare as a no. "There is now an opening for captain. You are probably going to be promoted to Captain."

A look of dread slowly fell on Kara's face. "Son of a bitch. No way in hell am I going to be promoted."

"It's only fair that if I move up so do you. I might have even suggested the promotion to the old man."

There was no mistaking the angry look on Kara's face. "Lee Anthony Adama! I swear to the gods if you did, I will kick your ass to the middle of next week."

Lee laughed loudly, pulling Kara into his arms and capturing her lips into a sweet kiss. He felt Kara's anger fade as he deepened the kiss. Maybe life would be alright after all, was Lee's final coherent thought as he lost himself in Kara.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Keep your hands over your eyes," Lee ordered Kara as he pulled her into the second room of their 'apartment'.

"Is this going to be some grand, romantic gesture that shows how much you truly love me?" Kara questioned, fighting the urge to inch her fingers away from her eyes.

"Yes, that's what it is," Lee answered honestly, placing Kara into the middle of the room.

"That's exciting. Is it diamonds?"

Lee chuckled, "nope, didn't really take you for the diamond kind of gal."

Kara smiled, "I'm not. I just wanted to rule out the worse, and move my way up. Is it booze?"

"Wrong again. Why don't you find out for yourself," he told her, pulling her hands from her eyes.

Kara looked around her seeing nothing but the bare walls. While trying to to see why Lee brought her hear she had to catch herself from tripping over something as she turned in circles. Looking down, her eyes started to fill up with tears at the beautiful sight before her.

"What? How? Is it real?" Kara wondered as she searched Lee's eyes for some sign of humor to prove that this had to be a joke.

"Yeah, it's real paint. A while back ago Helo told me about your apartment and how you had done a lot of painting on the side. Lately, I have been thinking about this room and I thought we could paint it. So I went to the chief and he helped me out. Sorry, there is only red, black, and blue, but I figured it was better than nothing. Do you like it?"

Kara could barely speak, as she gazed down to the cans on the floor. "It's the most wonderful gift that anybody has ever given me."

Lee smiled shyly, happy that he got the gift right. "I'm glad you liked it. I figured you would enjoy painting the room for the baby."

"I'd love to." She looked around surveying the walls, and then looking down at the paint cans along with the metal containers to mix colors in. However, she did notice something missing. "Um, where are the brushes?"

"I couldn't get a hold of any, Chief said they didn't have any to spare, so you are going to have to do without."

Kara just shrugged, not really caring. She quickly slipped off her top so she was just in her tanks and slacks. She threw the clothes outside of the room and bent down, swirling her finger in the red paint. She had no idea of what to draw for their baby, but that was nothing really knew to her. She never knew what she was going to paint when she started a project, she just let her hand move, as if it had a life of its own, telling some story that was only known after it was done. Taking her hand out of the paint, she stood up towards the closest wall and made a large sweeping motion across the wall, leaving a trail of red paint where her hand had been.

Lee watched happily, as he saw Kara transport to a place he had never seen before. Her face was relaxed and content, obviously not registering anything outside of the little bubble that was her world at this moment. However, eventually Kara did notice that he was staring at her and turned to catch him in the act. She was rewarded by a slight blush on Lee's cheeks.

"Perv," Kara spat at Lee.

Lee rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry that I just wanted to see you enjoy this gift I gave you."

"Well, you can enjoy it too."

"Me? I have no artistic skills whatsoever. It would be a waste."

"I doubt that, nobody has no artistic skills."

"You wouldn't say that if you had seen some of my artwork when I was in school."

"I don't want to hear it. It's not fair for our child to have a room that was decorated by just one of their parents."

Lee felt a jolt course through his body briefly when he heard her refer to the baby as theirs. He was so happy to hear that was how she was thinking of it. Kara never seized to amaze him, and the joy of thinking of this child as being his, maybe not by blood but his all the same, always gave him such a great feeling of excitement.

Kara took his pause as surrender. "You are in charge of that wall over there," Kara pointed to the wall opposite her. "Work your way around and we will meet up on the side wall."

Lee nodded and slowly bent down, hesitantly dipping his finger in the black paint. The cold, viscous liquid felt foreign to his hand, he had no idea what to do with it. Finally, deciding nothing was going to come to him by just swirling the paint, he stood up at his wall and did the first thing that came to his mind, he drew a smiley face. Laughing a little to himself, he continued by giving the face a stick body, even a little stick dog.

Both got caught up in their art as they worked to the middle of the room. Kara was now working on a beautiful sunset that took up the whole wall, although it had a slightly different feeling as there was no yellow. The colors were harsh and bold, but somehow the greater picture was pretty, including dark trees standing against the sky.

In contrast was Lee's side, which looked like a small child's drawings. The wall was full of stick figures, hand prints, and squiggly drawings. Merging in the middle was a mess of colors as they tried to blend what they were doing together. Somehow it worked, and the room looked completed.

They stood back to survey their work, and both had to laugh at the sight in front of them. If it hadn't been enough of a guarantee that their child would be weird because of its parents, then this room would make the child crazy. Kara looked at the room and loved it, it was exactly she would want her child to be. In one last moment of impulse, she went forward, dipped her finger in the black paint and wrote above her sunset, _Gnōthi seauton. _

"What does that mean?" Lee asked.

"In the old language it means 'know yourself', something my father told me before he left."

"Good advice," Lee consented.

Kara agreed as went over to give Lee a sweet kiss in thank you. She reached up and stroked his cheek, remembering she still had wet paint on her hands.

She stepped back to see Lee's shocked face. "Oh so we are playing that game are we?"

Kara giggled, seeing the black paint streaks down his face. "I don't know what you are talking about? I completely forgot that I had the paint on my hands."

"Why don't I believe you?'"

"It's not my problem that you have trust issues."

"You are the reason I have trust issues," he told her as he bent down sliding his hand over the paint. Quickly he flicked his hand up and speckled Kara with paint.

Kara gasped, "I can't believe you just did that." Leaning down, she submerged her hand in the paint and then sent paint in Lee's direction.

That started a full on paint fight that left the walls sprinkled with paint and the two participants covered in paint. The two collapsed laughing into each other's arm. Lee felt very comfortable with Kara in his arms. He felt the ring pressing against his leg in his pocket. He was about to propose, but something stopped him, feeling that maybe this wasn't his chance. He knew that it was probably just his nerves talking, but he wanted it to be perfect, and this moment wasn't right. That's what he chose to keep telling himself.

A/N-No excuses for the lateness...just kept forgetting about writing. I'm trying to fix that however. I just want to say, I have not forgotten about this story, and I have two more chapters to write. I will try to get those out in the near future, but who really knows. And the phrase is greek for know yourself and according to wikipedia, that phrase was over the entrance to the tomb of Apollo in Delphi. Hope to see y'all again soon. Thank you for the reviews, I enjoy them greatly and they keep me going.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Coming in from a meeting with his father, Lee collapsed on the couch. He slowly unbuttoned his uniform top, letting himself relax fully against the couch side. His mind kept running through what his father and he had discussed. Adama informed him that Roslin and he had decided that the fleet was in a stable enough condition that they could focus some of their energy to go back to Caprica and save the survivors.

When Lee had heard this news, his stomach dropped. Adama had an inkling that Kara had some unfinished business left on Caprica, however he couldn't sacrifice the numerous lives that could still be on Caprica for the sake of his son's personal life. Lee knew all of this, so they continued to discuss their plan to get back to the planet and when it was to take place. Lee kept everything official, not letting his father in on the fact that he didn't want this mission to happen.

Once he returned from the meeting, he couldn't help but let his mind go and drift to the dilemma that he now had at hand. He knew he should tell Kara before he proposed, but part of him was really scared that once she found out that they were going to go back for Anders that she would leave him for her child's real father. This thought scared him to death. Now knowing what it was like to be with Kara he didn't know if he could go back to life without her. He knew that if Anders came back, then he would no longer have any peace. If she went to him, everything would change. Kara and him wouldn't even have a friendship to fall back on because there was no going back after everything they have gone through.

All of him wasn't so sure she would leave him though. They have been so happy the last couple of months. Things have never been more right in the world than them. They still had their fights and blow outs, but they were always able to patch things up. They were there for each other at all times. He had a hard time believe that Kara would be able to leave that. But, Anders' was the child's father. With that in mind, all bets were off. If it weren't for Kare being pregnant with Anders' baby, he was sure Kara would stay with him.

Out of all of this, there was the part that filled him with dread the most, the thought that he would lose this baby. He had really come to believe that this child was his. He knew he would never be the biological father of this child, but he could be a father in every other sense of the word. He had been looking forward to that so much, and this baby given him new life. This baby was a hope of the future to him, a way for the human race to continue, and he was going to be a part of that. He didn't want to lose that.

The slam of the hatch door brought him out of his thoughts. Kara stood in front of him, hands on her hips, trying to look very intimidating, but wasn't having much success as she was wearing a bright purple shirt that had tassels on it.

"What did I do?" Lee quickly asked, trying to rack his brain for what he could have possibly missed. Just as he thought of the answer, she answered for him.

"We were supposed to have lunch today. You were supposed to meet me in the mess. Instead, I sat there looking like a frakking moron, eating by myself. Everybody knew that I had been stood up. I must have look so pathetic."

Lee didn't know that him forgetting such a small thing, could have warranted such a response out of Kara. She must be emotional, there was nothing to do about it, but to apologize profusely. "I am so sorry Kara. I had a meeting with my father, and it left me with a lot to think about and I just completely forgot about the lunch. There is no excuse for that. I am sorry."

Kara was taken slightly aback by how fast she received an apology from Lee. Usually, he wouldn't cave so easily, and half the time she ended up saying sorry to him. Something was up. "Are you ok Lee?"

Lee sat up readily, realizing he was still laying back. "Yeah, I'm just tired."

Kara nodded, accepting this answer, she turned around to go to the bedroom to change.

Lee saw his opportunity slipping away from him, and he couldn't believe that he was going to let it pass. He had to just come clean and to find out for once where they stood. "Kara, wait." Kara turned around, looking at him questioningly. "Come sit down please, there is something I need to talk to you about."

"What is this about?" Kara asked walking over to the couch. She had to practically squat to sit down, she was now a little over eight months pregnant.

"I have two things to tell you, and I really need to just come out and say them without interruption, can you do that?"

Kara nodded, very curious as to what Lee had to say. She didn't know if it was bad or not. He had his worried face on, but he worried about everything, so that really gave her no clue.

"First, Adama and Roslin have decided to go ahead on a mission that would send about a dozen raptors back to the Colonies to scout for any survivors. I know you accepted that Anders was dead and there was nothing that could be done about it, there is now a chance that all of that can change. I know this changes everything with the baby, but I still want us to be together."

At this point Kara tried to start talking, "Lee hold on..."

Lee put a hand over her mouth, continuing with his speech, "no, I still have one more thing to say. I love you. I love Kara Thrace. Who would have thought? You are crazy, obnoxious, and cocky, but I love you. I don't think there is a thing I could do to change that, even if I wanted to. I really think we have something different here. It's not normal. It's beyond insane. I can't promise much, but I can say that I will be here as long as you want me. That's why I want you to marry me." At this point Lee pulled out the ring that Adama had given him. He held it out to Kara, laying his heart out there with it. "Will you marry me?"

Kara looked at the ring, and looked up to Lee. She didn't know what to say. That was a lot of information to take in, and she just didn't know where to start. She knew though, she had to be honest with Lee and tell him everything. That thought made her really nervous. She felt stressed.

Lee stared at Kara, patiently letting her think about everything he told her. After a few moments, though he had to know what she was thinking. "What do you say?"

Kara opened her mouth to answer him, when all of a sudden a pain surged through unlike anything she had ever felt before. She groaned.

Lee stared at her in shock. "Was that a no?"

Kara glared at Lee. "No, that was a contraction."

"Wait, does that mean..."

"Yeah, I'm in labor."

Lee looked around the room, as if there would be some sign as to what he was supposed to do.

"Lee, Lee, LEE," Kara yelled trying to grab his attention. "You need to help me get to Cottle."

Lee nodded, feeling slightly better now that he had something concrete to do, a mission. He helped Kara up, letting her lean a lot of her weight on him. He started to lead her down the passageway, his mind trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Silence between them except for the occasional moan from Kara, Lee was left to his thoughts. Lee was going through everything that brought them to this moment, from her telling him she was pregnant to his proposing. That thought brought him back slightly as he felt the ring still in his right hand.

"Kara?" Lee asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"What?" Kara growled, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

"You know you never answered me."

Kara didn't say anything, but just stared ahead.

"Have you not made a decision?"

"No, it's just that, I can't believe you are bringing up your proposal, at such a FRACKED UP TIME!" Kara's voice slowly rose until she was screaming and everybody that was walking by had to stop to stare.

"No, no, no it's just that, it's just that..."

"YOU JUST FRAKKING WHAT?"

"I need to know. I need to know if you will stay with me."

Kara sighed. "Yes, I will frakking marry you if that is what it will take to shut you up."

Lee didn't stop though. "Now, are you saying yes because you love me or is it because you just don't want to deal with it now?"

Kara stomped her foot and stopped, jerking Lee to a halt. She shoved her left hand out. "Put the ring on my finger."

"What?" Lee's mouth was wide open.

"I said put the ring on my finger. If you don't, I will take back my acceptance."

Lee didn't say anything, not wanting to test her, and he slid the small ring on her finger.

"Now can I go and get this thing out of me?"

Lee nodded and wrapped his arm around her again, helping her along.

Lee inwardly groaned when he saw who they were coming upon. He had heard enough rumors about Ham and knew that this was not somebody Kara should be passing while she was in labor. However, it couldn't be avoided and it seemed Ham knew it.

He walked up, cockily saluting Kara, and spat out with glee, "it seems that bun in your oven is finally done."

Kara instantly moved to launch herself at him, when she doubled over in agony as another contraction hit her. Lee maintained his hold on Kara and tried to move her forward while giving a glare that made the young pilot rethink what he had said. Seeing the major's stare made him scurry off in the opposite direction.

Lee could hear Kara trying to speak between moans. "I am...you should see...he's going...that bastard."

Lee nodded sympathetically, helping Kara to move down the corridor. After a few more turns, they had finally arrived at sickbay. They opened the hatch and stepped in to see Doc Cottle leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, as he took a long drag out of the cigarette in hand.

"So, you're having a baby," Cottle stated, pointing out the obvious. He put out his cigarette, with a slight look of reluctance. "Well, let's get you into a gown and then get you into a bed. Luckily it seems you have the place to yourself."

At that moment the hatch opened and a stream of people poured into the room, amongst them were Adama, Roslin, Helo, and numerous other other residents of Galactica. Cottle looked at them with a hesitant look. The arrivals were noisy, moving towards Kara who was clutching her stomach.

"All of you shut your mouths," Cottle half yelled to everybody. "Now raise your hands if you are actually here to witness Starbuck squeeze a slimy baby out of her."

Everybody in the room looked at each other hesitantly. In the corner of the room, Lee nervously raised his hand.

"Ok, so we have one volunteer. The rest of you get out of here, go about your lives and somebody will tell you when it has arrived," Cottle ordered them all.

They all followed suit, Adama seemed a little ruffled from receiving orders from a doctor. However, he complied, quickly giving Kara a quick hug before exiting the room.

Cottle surveyed the now empty sickbay, pleased with himself. "That's much better. Now I want you to change into that gown and go ahead and get into that first bed." Cottle moved, pulling the curtain around the first bed, giving Kara privacy.

Lee moved forward to help Kara into a gown. Kara waved him off. "I know you are dying to go make sure all the shifts are covered, and all the reserve pilots are called."

"No, I should be with you right now."

Kara laughed, "you can be with me, in a little while. This is going to take a little while. Go ahead."

Lee struggled for a minute, before deciding to go. "Ok, I'll do it, but I will be right back. It shouldn't take me more than twenty minutes. Are you sure you are going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Kara illustrated this by taking off her shirt, and pulling on the robe. "See, I'm good. Now go."

Lee nodded and ran out, hoping he could maybe get it all done in ten minutes.

Kara finished changing and then climbed into bed. She called out to Cottle, "I'm decent."

She heard a mumble in return, and then heard his feet shuffling towards her bed. He opened the curtain wide open.

"Ok, lets put your feet into these contraptions, and see how along you are."

Kara followed the orders. She shuddered as she felt another contraction coming on. Cottle ignored her as he checked on her. He stood up at the end of her contraction, patting her leg. "It looks we will have you here for a while. Might as well get comfortable. Sometimes labor can take up to 36 hours."

Kara all of a sudden felt a wave of fear washing over, vaguely aware that she wished she hadn't sent Lee of so quickly. "Umm, really?" Kara tried to hide her anxiety, however her response came off shaky.

Cottle chuckled a little, turning back towards her bed. "I'm guessing you didn't read any of the pamphlets I gave you on having a baby?"

Kara replied meekly, "no."

"Well, yes, you can be in labor over 36 hours, but that is pretty rare. My wife was once in labor for 40 hours."

Kara couldn't contain her curiosity. "Your wife?"

Cottle looked around, as if to make sure no one was watching, before sitting down in a chair next to the bed. "What you think you are the only obstinate, pain in the ass that can get married?" He nodded towards the ring on her left hand.

"No, its just I can't picture you married."

"Well, I can't picture you married, doesn't mean that its not going to happen." Cottle paused, pulling a picture out of his uniform, handing it to Kara. "I had four children, ten grandchildren, and one amazing wife."

Kara looked down at the photo that was worn and crumpled, probably from being looked at a lot. In it was what looked like a younger Cottle, his brown hair only had a few streaks of gray in it, sitting on a couch with his family. Right next to him was his wife, a pretty woman with dark, curly hair that was arranged wildly around her. Behind Cottle was what looked like his eldest child, hugging him around the neck. Two toddler aged girls, who looked like twins, were enjoying a hand clapping game with each other. On his wifes lap was a small child that was grasping a lock of the womans hair while he sucked on it. What was probably meant to be a posed picture, was scrapped when none of the children could stay still long enough to take the photo.

Kara glanced back at Cottle as she handed the photo back. "You lost them all in the attack?"

Cottle nodded. "We all lived near each other in a rural town. They stood no chance."

"I'm sorry," Kara spoke, saying the only words that came to mind.

Cottle sighed, standing back up. "Thanks."

At that moment, Lee came running back in, gasping for air. "I'm back."

Kara laughed, "obviously." Silently she watched as Cottle walked off, probably back to his desk. For some reason hearing his story, gave her an odd sense of comfort. Maybe if he could have a family, then she could as well.

A/N- The next and final chapter will be up tomorrow. It's all done, I just need to look over it and revise it a little. Sorry for the lack of description on pregnancy and labor on this one. What can I say? I'm a 19 year old who has never been pregnant. I don't have a lot of experience with it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Push Kara, Push," faceless voices were telling her. She was trying to block the room out, but it was impossible with the excruciating pain she was in right now. There were nurses around her, and she when she looked forward Cottle's silver hair was visible between her legs. They were all telling her to push. Well, she didn't want to push. She wanted to transport back nine months, and not have sex. She had to wonder, was it really worth it?

"Just take a deep breath, Kara," a voice whispered to her. She looked over at the source of the voice, and as she looked at his eyes, they were just so blue, the room started to melt away and the constant noise faded. He gave her a smile, squeezing her hand. "You can do it Kara, just breath."

Feeling his confidence, she took his advice, and took a deep breath. Once she did, she knew she could do it too. Letting everybody around her come back into focus, she started to push, with every last ounce of strength in her body. Lee was urging her right by her side, and she kept pushing until the first cry of her child rang in the room.

She started crying out of pure relief and happiness, letting herself sag against the bed. Lee hugged her tightly, the waves of happiness emanating from him into her body.

They watched as Cottle took the newborn over to a small bed where he examined it and cleaned it. It took a few minutes, and once he was satisfied, he wrapped the baby in a blanket and carried the bundle over to Kara.

"Here is your daughter, Kara," Cottle told her, beaming as he carefully placed the little girl in her waiting arms and then turning around, beckoning all the nurses to leave with him, letting the new family to get acquainted with each other.

Kara stared down amazed at the baby, the little girl in her arms. 'A girl. I'm a mother. I have a baby girl,' were thoughts that were running through her mind. She looked down at the little girl, and her breath caught, not able to do anything but stare. She couldn't say that the baby was beautiful. If anything, she was very squishy and pinched looking, but that didn't matter. She was still Kara's. That's all that matter. She looked up at Lee, who's eyes were shining with happiness and admiration.

"Do you want to hold her?" Kara questioned quietly. Lee looked doubtful at the tiny bundle. Kara smiled. "Here, take her. You'll be fine." Kara raised herself up a little, holding the baby up slightly, gently giving the baby to Lee.

Lee straightened up and looked down at the quiet baby, she was barely making a sound, except for the occasional sniffle. He beamed down at the baby. "Hello there," he greeted the little girl. "We've been expecting you." At these words, the baby slowly raised here eyelids, looking up at Lee. Lee froze in place as he stared down at the eyes he was all too familiar with, they were the ones he say every time he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Um, Kara?"

Kara sat up even further when she saw what happened. She sighed heavily. "I was going to tell you. I really was. When you told me about Anders and you doubting whether I would stay with you, I knew that I had to come clean and tell you."

"Then, she is..."Lee's voice wondered off, not letting his eyes leave the baby's face that was studying him.

"Yours," Kara finished for him. "She is your daughter. I lied."

Lee nodded, finally meeting Kara's eyes. She looked so scared, probably thinking that he was going to be furious for lying to him this whole time. A little part of him was mad about the lying, but really, he wasn't that angry because he was just so happy that this little girl in his arms was his. He was a father, in every sense of the word. That thought sent the tears that had been pooling in his eyes, down his face. But he still had one question. "Why?"

Kara relaxed a little when she only heard curiosity in his voice and no anger. "I was scared. I wasn't really thinking clearly. I didn't want you to feel obligated to me or the baby. I didn't want to lose you because you would run away scared. I didn't want you to hate me for letting this happen to me. So many insecurities were running through me. Like I said, it wasn't logical, but there it is. I was going to tell you when I saw how okay with it you were, but I just kept losing my nerve. I was so afraid you would be mad."

"I'm not angry. I am just so relieved that she is mine, that I can't really feel any anger in me right now." Reluctantly he bent over to set the baby in Kara's waiting arms. Kara scooted over to the edge, and Lee climbed into the bed, laying on his side next to Kara, staring at the baby in her arms. "I'm just so happy that we can be family."

Kara's face lit up. "We are going to be a family, aren't we?"

Lee nodded. "Yes, we are."

They lay in silence, both of them just so amazed by what they had created. There really wasn't any words for it. So, instead they just staid silent, soaking in the baby.

Finally Cottle came in to take the baby to her bed, wanting to do some more tests to make sure she was healthy. "She is a little premature, by a few weeks, and I would feel better doing a few tests." Both Kara and Lee looked up alarmed. Cottle seeing this insisted that "I'm was sure everything was fine, but it is procedure."

Lee and Kara were left by themselves. "We still have to name her," Lee mentioned as he lay next to Kara, stroking her face softly.

Kara smiled, "I have an idea."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lee, standing by the bed, was holding the baby in his arms, as Kara watched from the bed she was sitting up on. In front of the them were as many people Cottle had allowed in to see them, Roslin, Adama, Cally, Helo, Tigh, Billy, and Dee. Many other people had wanted to come in to have a glimpse at Kara's baby, but Cottle insisted that only a handful could come in.

Lee smiled at the group, glancing every now again to the baby in his arms. He cleared his throat, as if he didn't already have their full attention. "I would like to present to you Alexandra Carlyn Adama."

Everybody gasped at the last name. Adama was the first to speak. "Does that mean..."

Lee beamed ear to ear. "She is my child."

The whole group looked completely shocked.

"Also, I would like to announce that I am engaged to him," Kara added, pointing at Lee with her right hand while holding up her left hand to show them her ring.

Adama looked like he was going to cry, but instead let out a relieved laugh. He walked over and gave Kara a hug, then stepping back to kiss her on her forehead. "I will be so happy to have you officially in our family." Then he turned around to look at his son, not needing words to convey how happy he was for him. Lee nodded as if understanding Adama. "Could, I hold her?" He asked hesitantly.

Lee laughed, "of course. You're her grandfather after all."

Adama took Alexandra in his arms, remembering that the last time he held a baby in his arms it had been Zac. Adama couldn't help himself, he let a few tears fall from his arms. "I'm a grandfather."

Everybody looked around the room, smiling at each other, letting all other worries of cylons, rations, and political unrest leave the room. Right here and right now they were just happy to be a part of this new life that had joined them. They stood around, anxiously waiting their turn to hold her, and have a share in that happiness.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

A Month Later

"Kara, someone is at the door, can you get it?" Lee called from their bedroom, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Not really, I have Alex in my hands at the moment."

"Ok," Lee replied, quickly pulling on the closest pants he could find which were his cargo field pants. He darted out of the room, past the kitchen where Kara was just pulling Alex out of the sink where she had been getting a bath. On the counter, Kara lay Alex on a towel which she wrapped around Alex.

Lee kept moving and opened the hatch. Lee paused, not recognizing the man in front of her. He was tall, taller than Lee, wearing a dark jacket and pants. He had tussled dark hair, which looked unkempt as if he hadn't had a shower for a few days.

"Anders," a voice whispered behind him.

Lee understood that the rescue mission must have gotten back today. He wondered why he wasn't notified, but then remembered that Adama had ordered that Lee and Kara both have a full day off to spend with Alex.

Immediately seeing that he was being rude, he opened the hatch further and stepped aside letting Anders in.

"Hi there Kara. It's good to see you," Anders greeted her.

Kara was standing there with her hair back in a messy ponytail, wearing sweats and Lee's tanks. She still hadn't lost all her pregnancy weight. Alex was in her arms, still wrapped in the towel. Kara seemed a little too shocked for words, never really letting herself believe that Anders would still be alive by the time the survivors were rescued.

Anders, seeing her shocked face, turned and looked at Lee. "Hi, I'm Anders, I'm assuming you are Lee?" Anders questioned, putting his hand out to be shook by Lee.

Lee gave a quick appraisal of Anders and decided that he looked nice enough. He took Anders hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Yes, I'm Lee. I've heard a lot about you from Kara. She speaks very highly of you."

Anders actually looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I don't see why."

Lee, warming up to him, shook his head. "It would be quite an accomplishment to group together a band of survivors, keep them alive, and on top of that, lead them in a resistance."

Anders smiled. "Well there was nothing on tv."

Kara seemed to regain her voice. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. I just came by to say hi and to thank you. I have you to thank for convincing them to come get us. So, thank you, Kara, or should I be calling you Mrs. Adama?"

Kara laughed glancing at Lee, "please don't call me that. Kara is just fine."

"Well, I want to congratulate you, well, both of you on the baby and on your marriage."

It was Lee's turn to speak. "Thank you. We are really happy.'

Anders nodded. "You look it. I'm going to get going. I wish you both happiness."

Kara stepped forward and leaned over to give Anders a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you. You are welcome to come by anytime. I would love to hear your resistance stories."

"That would be nice," Anders replied, stepping back out and closing the hatch behind him.

Lee looked at the closed hatch and then at his wife. "I like him."

"He's a good guy." Kara looked down at the baby in her arms and smiled as Alex looked up at her, a sleepy look on her face. "I think it's Alex's bed time."

Lee looked over and took the baby from her arms. "That it is." He took her to the nursery and where he dressed her quickly and then lay her down into the crib. Kara followed him in and joined him as they both leaned over the edge of the crib to stare down as Alex slowly drifted off to sleep.

This was their favorite past time, to gaze at their sleeping baby. In Alex, they saw a hope for the future, a bright, shiny future, no less. She gave them what they never dared to have before, a reason to live. This was a real reason to trudge through day after day of caps and training. With Alex, they had a real tangible reason to fight, not just some obscure ideal. She was the future, not only theirs but all of humanities.

"So, you don't like being called Mrs. Adama?" Lee whispered as he leaned back and headed out into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Kara rolled her eyes. "It's just weird. I don't know. Now don't get all hurt by it now."

Lee shook his head as he dropped the cup into the sink. "No, it's just you didn't seem to mind me calling you Mrs. Adama last night." At this, Lee smirked at Kara, who was showing the faintest signs of a blush on her face at the memory of last nights activities.

"Well, that was different, now wasn't it?"

"I don't see how."

Kara cocked her eyebrow. "Do you need me to show you how it was different?"

Lee grinned. "I think that might be wise. You know me, my memory is terrible."

Kara sauntered over to Lee and pulled his tanks off and started to push him back to the bedroom.

For lack of better words...The End

A/N-There it is. I feel so relieved to finally hve this over. I have had the whole story planned out from the beginning, but I just have been too lazy to write. That changed today when I was mad an author, who has a chapter and half to write on her story, announce that the story is dead and she probably won't get around to finishing it. I was furious, how hard could it be to write a chapter and a half. Then I remember myself and felt a twinge of guilt. Needless to say, I opened up the document, and soon enough the words were just flowing out.

A few things. First, I really had no idea I was pulling a Scrubs. I just got into the show this summer, and I completely copied the Jordan/Pregnant storyline without ever knowing. I knew that the baby was going to be Lee's long before I ever watched Scrubs, but still, I thought it was funny. All in all I am pleased with how the story turned out, and I am happy with the ending, and I hope you are all as well. I would love to hear what you have to say about. Finally, I would like to thank all the loyal readers who have stuck by it, even between all the long gaps between updates. I hope you are happy with how the story turned out. So, thank you, and I hope to see you in the future. I think I am going to work on my Harry Potter fanfiction, but eventually, down the line I would like to continue with Battlestar fanfiction, I have many ideas for it.

Once again, thank you all.


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